


Like Morning Follows Night

by Resplendent_Roses



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Gore, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Original Character(s), Multi, Past Abuse, Slow Build, There are so many ships in here but I stg I'm not tagging them all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-03-02 17:07:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13322673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resplendent_Roses/pseuds/Resplendent_Roses
Summary: Angela Ziegler, a child prodigy who had to grow up under the care of Overwatch after the death of her parents goes on a fateful mission that introduces her to one former gang member, Jesse McCree. They're the same age and share a lot more experiences than they think including tragic pasts and dead families. As Angela grows and has to deal with the consequences of her research, Jesse has to fight back a deadly demon from his past in order to save everyone in Overwatch that he loves. However through all their trials and tribulations Jesse has made up his mind. He'll follow her like morning follows night.The extremely long McMercy fanfiction that my tumblr followers convinced me to post! Enjoy!





	1. The Little Sunflower

It was a cold and wet day. Angela Ziegler, eleven years of age, was in her room in Switzerland studying her medical notes. It was the perfect time to study when the rain was pattering against her window, it was a calming noise, helped her think. She was grappling with having to move away from her family to go to medical school. Her teachers had taught her everything she could learn. It was time to move onward. The omnic crisis was still raging on around her, and she knew eventually it would be her time to go help them. She wanted to help them. Being a doctor was all she had ever dreamed about from the moment she had first learned what one was. She was different. A prodigy they called her. She just wanted to help. Her older sister Lara was out with her friends today. She was graduating high school soon at the age of fifteen. Not as impressive as Angela and yet the younger girl found herself envying her sister more and more as time went by. Lara had friends. Lara had people who loved her. The children Angela’s age wanted nothing to do with her. Angela couldn’t wait to leave and meet new people who would find her as interesting as Lara’s friends found her. But she would miss her mother, her father. She’d miss Lara the most. Looking out the window there was a big black car outside that she had never seen before. Climbing out of it was an enormous man with long yellow hair and a beard. He and his umbrella were making their way straight to her front door. It piqued her interest and she slid her window open to hear him.

“Hello? Doctor and...um...Doctor? Ziegler? Do I have the right house?” 

“Yes, I’m Emma and this is my husband David, can we help you?” 

“My name is Reinhardt Wilhelm, I am a Lieutenant in Overwatch. I came here to hopefully discuss your daughters. They are quite talented we hear and our Commander, Gabriel Reyes, has sent me to make you an offer, might I meet your girls?” 

“I’m afraid our eldest, Lara, is away at the moment, but Angela is here. You’re welcome to come inside Lieutenant.” 

“Thank you very much.” 

Angela closed her window and went back to her notes. What did Overwatch want with her? She certainly didn’t want anything to do with them. Sure they were ending the war...but she didn’t like how they were doing it. Her parents had told her time and again that there was no other way but...she still couldn’t accept it. War was war and there were countless deaths on both sides, regardless on whether or not they were human it was still mass slaughter.

“Angela? There is a man here who would like to meet you, won’t you come down?” 

“Yes Mami,” She said. Regardless of whether or not she agreed with Overwatch, she still wanted to know what the man wanted to talk about. She made her way down the lavish white staircase, typical of a salary of two doctors, down into the foyer where the large blonde man was. 

“Oh! Hallo Sonnenblümchen! You must be Angela!”

“Hallo Herr Wilhelm,” She replied, holding her hands in front of her. 

“Ah, I bet you heard me speaking with your parents! I am here from Overwatch, to talk to you about a very special offer that I have come to make you. Our doctors at Overwatch have been very impressed with you and your sister, and we would like for you to one day come work with us and-” 

“Why do you want Lara?” Angela interrupted. 

“She placed very high on many tests, and she is graduating at such a young age, she has a bright future ahead of her just like you do.” 

“But Lara wants to be a veterinarian, not a doctor. What would she do in Overwatch?” 

“Very soon Overwatch is going to begin establishing bases around certain areas of the world with the intention of preserving and studying climatology, meteorology, and zoology in order to help make the natural world a better place. They are going to be called Eco -Points, and we are very excited to offer your sister a chance at working in one.” 

“What are you offering me?” Angela asked. 

“My commander Gabriel Reyes has asked me to come with the offer that Overwatch pay for your schoolings with the intention that you come and work for us to save lives.” 

“But if you’re as close to ending the war as the news says, won’t you be disbanding by the time I finish school?” Angela asked. 

“The United Nations has been talking about establishing Overwatch as an official peacekeeping organization after the war. We are to bring hope and compassion to the world, Angela, and we want you and your sister to help us.” 

“Isn’t that amazing Angela?” Her mother said, “Overwatch wants you!” 

All of a sudden there was a loud and frantic knocking at the door, and her father went to answer it. 

“Doctor Zielger!” 

“Sarah?” He asked. It was one of Lara’s friends. 

“You have to come quick!” She cried, holding her arm which was bleeding. 

“Oh my god what’s going on?” her mother asked, going to see the girl. Reinhardt stayed by Angela’s side. 

“The omnics! They’re overrunning Zurich it’s a surprise attack!” 

“Where is Lara?!” Her father shouted. 

“She’s hurt! At the movie theater! Mia and Elias are there with her they sent me to come get you!” 

Her parents turned to the large man, “Lieutenant Wilhelm, the Overwatch Headquarters in Zurich, surely they’re dealing with the threat?” 

“There was no predicted attack anywhere near Zurich otherwise we would have moved in with supplies and men! I will escort you to the theater to retrieve your daughter and then I will have to join the fight!” 

“Angela you can’t stay here alone, you have to come with us,” Her mother said, taking her hand. They all got into the car that Lieutenant Wilhelm had arrived in and soon they were in the middle of the city, where there were loud explosions and people running in every direction. Her parents got out of the car and ran to the theater immediately while Reinhardt stayed behind with Angela.

“Whatever you do stay calm,” He told her, taking out his phone to make a call.

“Captain Amari! What is happening?! I am out with the Zieglers, I was sent to discuss their daughters and in the middle of that discussion the omnics! They are attacking Zurich! Where is the nearest battalion? Good, not far then. Please call Commander Reyes to have my armor sent immediately I have to protect these people. One girl is already injured.” 

There was muttering on the phone that Angela couldn’t hear but soon enough he was hanging up and putting a caring hand on her shoulder. 

“That was my friend Ana,” He said, “She is very nice and she is excited to meet you.” 

Angela was baffled at how he could be so calm and be attempting to carry on such conversation with her at a time like this. She could see omnics in the distance, firing shells off faster than Angela had even thought possible. 

“Herr Wilhelm…” Angela whimpered, seeing the robots begin to move closer to them. 

There was a dropship overhead now, and falling from it was a capsule with a parachute.

“They keep spares in all the ships for emergencies you see. You and your family will be just fine as long as I’m here,” He smiled, getting out of the car. He opened the metal capsule and took out large pieces of armor that he put on, and after all was on he took up a large hammer. 

“Now let’s go help your family.” 

They began to walk in the direction towards the shopping mall wary of the nearby omnics, when they saw Angela’s parents. Lara unconscious in her father’s arms as they ran towards the car. Angela looked carefully and saw that her sister was covered in blood. 

“Is Lara okay?” She asked Reinhardt. 

But the large man didn’t respond. In truth he had seen this many times, replayed over and over. The young girl in her father’s arms was already drained of her color. All the Zieglers had done was go to retrieve their daughter’s body. 

“Run! Angela! Run!” Emma hollered, sprinting. Omnics came swarming out of the shopping mall behind them, guns raised. 

“Mami!” She called back. Reinhardt held his arm out and put up an enormous barrier. 

“Come quickly! I need to get you all out of here immediately!” Reinhardt boomed.

Falling from the sky was several more capsules in a darker, more menacing color. Omnics began to swarm the area and surround them. 

They were so close, running faster than they ever had in their lives. Angela hid between Reinhardt and the car as the loud shots rang out from the omnic guns. Shells were flying and the air was thick with gunsmoke and the smell of blood.

“DAVID!” Her mother screamed. 

Her father was falling, and Angela could see his head burst into pieces, Lara tumbling out of his arms, and the shells in her sister’s chest clearly visible now. They were both dead. 

“NO!” Reinhardt yelled. He went to charge forward but remembering Angela he stayed to shield her as the omnics closed in. 

“MAMI!” Angela cried as her mother continued running. But she never made it. The bullet was in and out of her throat mere inches away from the safety of Reinhardt’s barrier. She dropped next to Angela, wheezing her last breaths, choking on her blood with a gutteral gargle, reaching for her daughter. 

“I...love...you,” She said before her eyes rolled backwards and she went still. 

Angela burst into hysterics as Reinhardt tried to come up with a plan. She was sobbing, holding onto her mother while Reinhardt tried to pull her away.  

“Hold onto me Angela! You have to hold on!” Reinhard cried, “You will be safe but you must hold on!” 

“No! Mami!” 

But Reinhardt got his way regardless. With the arm that held his hammer he scooped her up into the crook of his elbow and charged away, through omnics and cars towards the middle of the city. 

“Papa! Lara!” She cried. 

“We’re almost there Angela!” Reinhardt said. He charged and he charged, avoiding all the omnics he could, and smashing through the rest until they reached the nearest dropship. 

Soon she was surrounded by Overwatch soldiers and Reinhardt was putting her down on a stretcher inside the enormous ship. 

“Angela I am so sorry. I couldn’t save them...I-” He said, removing the armored helmet to reveal the tears flowing down his face, “Angela.” He offered his hand and she took it, hugging it closely and sobbing on his arm. He engulfed her in a hug and held her until she couldn’t cry anymore, and got tired. 

“Angela.” 

….

“Angela.” 

Reinhardt came to stand beside her dressed in his finest black suit. Angela in a black dress, a delicate black bow tied in her hair to match it. They both stared at the three headstones recently placed, the dirt still fresh over the graves.

“Thank you, Herr Wilhelm” Angela sniffled, “For coming. For answering my letter.”

Reinhardt was almost deflated, “I was not going let you stand alone to face them, not now. Those reporters are heartless, cruel animals for demanding answers from you. I will protect you Angela, I promise.”

She simply stared at the ground, almost as if she were avoiding looking at the names on the stones, her eyes full and wet with tears, and Reinhardt tried to give her some semblance of hope.

“Before they left the theater your parents gave aid to Lara’s friends who were able to escape. I used to be one of the German Crusaders. Our motto was to live with honor. Angela your parents lived with honor. And I hope you never forget that. They were heroes.” 

She sniffled and he put a large hand on her shoulder.

"Why did they have to die?" She asked, "Why...why did I have to live? Why me?" 

"Angela, I know exactly what you mean," Reinhardt knelt down, "But it does no good to dwell on such things. None of us ever understand why we have to live while the others around us die. We've all lost so much in this war, but you must have hope. You can never stop loving people Angela, no matter how much you hurt inside, you will always need others, and they will always need you. Right now, you need to be brave, hold onto the light inside, I know it's still there. One day there will be peace, I promise you." 

Angela wiped her face and hugged him. 

“He’s right,” Came an unfamiliar voice. 

Angela turned around to see two young men in matching black suits. 

“Hello Miss Ziegler, my name is Gabriel Reyes and this is Jack Morrison. I’m the strike commander of Overwatch. Reinhardt has told me a lot about you.”

“You’re the leader of Overwatch?” She asked. 

Gabriel nodded, “That’s right. And we’re going to take care of you. I personally offer you my deepest condolences. There is nothing to justify what happened to them, and no matter how much we want to, it's set in stone, it can't be changed. So we want to help you. We want to ensure you keep moving forward and have the best life possible with us. My engineer, Torbjö rn, has recently moved some of his family to Zurich to be closer to our Headquarters. And he and his wife Ingrid would be more than happy to have you stay with them as long as you need. You don’t deserve to sit in an orphanage, you have such a bright future ahead of you. We’re going to look out for you, okay?” 

“Okay,” She nodded, wiping her tears away. Reinhardt was kneeling in front of the graves, whispering some kind of prayer.

“We will watch over you,” Gabriel promised, kneeling down to pat her shoulder, “Angela.” 

….

“Angela”

Angela raised her head, in a daze. 

“Are you alright? You were...having a nightmare,” A soft hand on her back woke her fully, “You’re crying.” 

“I’m fine,” She said, sitting up. She noticed the crumpled school notes underneath her and groaned. 

“What time did you go to bed last night- or should I say passed out on your desk? You look exhausted.” 

“I’m okay Ingrid, really,” She answered. 

“Dear please, you’ve been working yourself to the bone. Can’t you take a break? You’re supposed to be on a vacation yet here you are passed out from working too hard.” 

“No, Gabriel is leading a Blackwatch mission to Route 66 tomorrow and I need to make sure I’m ready.” 

“Well you’ll want to take a break when you find out who’s here to get you.”

“Reinhardt!” Angela gasped, “I forgot! Thank you for waking me!” She raced to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get dressed before taking the stairs two at a time to see Reinhardt and Torbjorn at the breakfast table with Brigette, eating slices of Ingrid’s apple pie. 

“Ah! Angela! Finally awake to join us eh?” Torbjörn called to her. 

“Sorry, I fell asleep at my desk…” 

“Again,” Ingrid added. 

“No matter, are you ready to go? Reinhardt asked, holding up her already packed luggage. Darn that Ingrid, she must have done it all while Angela was asleep.

Angela nodded and followed him out, saying goodbye to the Lindholms. 

“Did you have a nice visit?” 

“Oh Reinhardt you know I did,” Angela smiled. 

“Your first year at Overwatch is already almost over Sonnenblümchen!” Reinhardt beamed as they got into the car, “Has it been a good first year?” 

“You know it was,” She said, “I’ve helped save many people.” 

“Not only that! Your invention! The Valkyrie suit is a piece of engineering genius! And your Caduceus staff has completely changed the game, we are all so proud of you!” 

“I couldn’t have done it without Torbjörn,” Angela said, “Spending all that time with him during college really paid off.”

As they drove away from Torbjörn’s home towards the air field, Angela found herself wanting to go elsewhere. 

“Reinhardt? Can we make a stop?” 

“Of course dear, where would you like to go?” 

She looked up at him with sad, sunken eyes, and somehow he knew the answer to that question. 

He made a right turn and drove on until they reached the plot of land she was looking for. Reinhardt exited the car and guided her out. 

“It’s been five years and you never once wanted to come here,” he said. 

“I...never wanted to before. What would the point be?” She replied, “They aren’t coming back.” 

“Then why now?” 

“It’s time,” She replied. She made her way past the headstones of different sizes until she found the three she was looking for. She stood there in silence while Reinhardt stood over her in a silent vigil. She could barely remember their faces now if not for the pictures she took with her when she moved out. It was hard to remember the life in their faces, they were now only pictures and hazy memories. She missed Lara the most. Making it two years longer than her sister ever did was probably the thought that brought on her recurring nightmare again last night. 

“Reinhardt?” She whispered. 

“Yes?” 

“Thank you. For saving me that day. I’m sure….I’m sure they would be happy. That I lived. Because of you.” 

“Oh Angela,” He broke down when he saw her tears and he held her face, “I am so sorry I couldn’t save them too.” He knelt down beside her like he had all those years ago and she wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him. 

“It’s okay. I...I’ve really liked living with you. And Torbjorn. I’m glad I got to know you all. You’ve been such a good family to me."

“I am just so happy to see you thrive Angela…” Reinhardt looked away, “I hope...I hope that you are happy. Despite my failures.” 

“I am very happy Reinhardt,” She said, pulling away from the hug, “You have done everything you can to honor my family, and to make sure that I have the best life possible. And I do. You can stop blaming yourself, because I forgave you a very long time ago.” 

“Ah Angela,” Reinhardt wiped a tear away, “You always know what to say.” 

"Let's go," She said, looking to her family's headstones one last time before going back to the car. As soon as they were back in and driving to the base again Reinhardt sighed.  
“I’m sorry the holidays for you couldn’t last longer. Torbjörn and Ingrid really do love having you over.” 

Angela shrugged, “I know, but from what Gabriel says, it’s going to be a serious fight tomorrow. Every Overwatch team we’ve sent into Deadlock Gorge has been unsuccessful, and we have lost too many good agents to some crack shot mercenary. So Jack has authorized Blackwatch to move in. He and Ana are personally attending as well, so I will most likely have a lot of people to look after. Good and bad.” 

“Ah, so it goes,” Reinhardt said, “My only regret is not being able to join you. Gabriel told me I would be to conspicuous.” 

“As if the bright blue Overwatch uniforms don’t give it away,” Angela laughed back. 

Reinhardt halted the car at the air base, where an Overwatch dropship was already waiting. 

“Have a good flight back to Zurich], I will see you when Torbjörn and I come home.” He called, "And remember not to over work yourself Angela! You're still only seventeen!"

Angela waved to him before she boarded the dropship which was empty to her dismay save for Ray, the pilot, who had his headphones on and communicating with the Swedish air traffic control. She settled for sitting in the back, adjusting her glasses and getting comfortable with her puzzle book. 

It was a surprisingly short flight and as soon as she said goodbye to Ray and entered the Swiss Headquarters, she was flooded by agents. 

“There you are! Ray was supposed to be here over an hour ago!” Jack complained, “No matter, we’ve done our best to get your supplies packed but we’re leaving soon and we need you to make sure we got everything.” 

“Sure,” Angela barely had time to put her suitcases down before everyone was coming to her needing something. Sheesh, it was like she was the only one who knew how to function on her own. Sometimes she wondered if they thought her Phd was in applying band-aids. 

The flight to America was much, much longer. Jack and Gabriel were double and triple checking their plans the entire way, and she didn’t get much sleep. 

When they arrived it was the dead of night in New Mexico, and the Blackwatch agents were already setting up as soon as they touched down. 

Jack allowed the few Overwatch members present to sleep. Ana and Angela sat together, Angela’s head on Ana’s shoulder, and Ana’s head on top of that. It was six am when Jack finally roused her. Ana was already gone. 

“We’ve set up and the train is set to be here in about an hour. We won’t need you on the field unless someone gets badly hurt, you’re mostly here for cleanup okay? Just be vigilant. There’s going to be a lot of hurt Deadlock members regardless.” 

Angela nodded and yawned, setting up the med bay in the drop ship. She pulled her bodysuit over her head and checked to make sure the Valkyrie system was online before retrieving her staff and going to the outcrop of rocks outside to watch the action. She needed to be sure that she could reach anyone who got hurt. 


	2. Deadlock Gorge

 

Sure enough the train came with a few extra passengers. The cars were lousy with Deadlock characters all dressed in the most bizarre American outfits.

Once Blackwatch stepped in however, there were only a few men remaining who hadn’t fled with the others. Most everyone had escaped as soon as the scuffle started but they had a good ten men still fighting in a classic western showdown resulting in two men down and a lot of work for Angela already.

Ana was near Angela in the outcrop, firing to scare the gang members into moving where she wanted them. Just like a herder tending to her sheep.

One of them was sneaking up behind Jack.

She fired.

She watched the young man hit the ground, and suddenly right where her head was only a moment ago, a shot rang out. She felt the wind of the bullet and she immediately put her head down. There, by the shot-up diner was a boy no more than seventeen with a six shooter and a wild grin.

“Are you alright?” Angela asked, immediately flying to her.

“Get down!”

Ana pulled her rifle back and grabbed her, hiding the both of them behind a rock, radioing Jack and Gabriel, “Boys, I don’t think I’m going to be much help to you in this one unless you start rounding them up. There’s a kid down there with a six shooter that spotted me right off the bat. He’s not letting up. He’s actually managing to snipe at me. It must be specially made.” A chunk of the rock she was behind crumbled as another shot came at her.

“Fall back Ana, Gabriel and I will handle this,” Jack replied.

“They’ve already managed to critically wound two of our agents, you’re going to need all the help you can get!”

“Fall back, Ana!” Jack ordered, and with a grunt of reply, Ana’s com went quiet.

Jack and Gabriel stood together, watching each other’s backs as they waited for Deadlock to make another push. A shot rang out and Jack cursed.

“Jack?”

“Motherfucker shot me!” Jack hissed through his teeth, “Where is he!?”

Gabriel saw the blood on Jack’s arm and watched as his partner shrugged it off and held his gun tighter.

“We gotta get to cover or the next one will be in my head for sure,” He groaned.

They carefully made their way inside the nearest building, a crappy diner of typical American fashion.

“Let me patch you up before we make a move,” Gabriel said, “Just keep your gun on the door it’ll be quick.

“Don’t bother Angela can do it later,” Jack said.

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“We’re enhanced not invincible, dumbass,” He said under his breath.

“Gabriel the mission,” Jack barked, “They’re going to make a move on us any second. You need to get to the other side of the diner. I’m sure that sharpshooter is going to flank us. I can handle the other two.

Gabriel merely grunted in reply, moving into position by the back door, his back to the wall, one of his guns put aside so he had a free hand

The two others came first, and neither was even close to touching Jack. All he had to do was shoot one in the foot and slam the butt of his gun into the other’s head.

That’s when the back door opened and the boy with the six shooter creeped in, fully ready to shoot Jack again, this time in the back.

“No honor,” Gabriel muttered.

The kid turned his head in surprise just in time to see the hand flying towards him. Gabriel grabbed him by the neck and lifted him before slamming him to the ground.

“Gotcha,” The Blackwatch commander smiled. The kid on the other hand, emotionless. Not scared or defeated.

“Got me.” He replied.

Jack came up and kicked the gun away before collecting it along with all the other weapons.

“No sense in leaving these for someone to come get,” He sighed. The other Blackwatch agents were filing in now, grabbing the two wounded Deadlock members and taking them outside. The one Ana had shot already tied and sitting on the ground with the rest of the bunch.

Ana had climbed down the gorge and was there with her rifle trained on him, and as soon as the others were tied and thrown to the ground, Jack did the same. Everyone else was on cleanup while Gabriel started the interrogation.

“I don’t have all day and my team is going to get this place cleaned up real quick. I expect our transport home is all ready to pick us up and I’d really like to get back to my comfy chair with an umbrella drink so let’s make this quick. I only need to know one thing”

The lot of them looked disinterested. One spit on the ground in front of him.

“Let’s try something else then. I’m only going to ask this once before I blow one of you away,” Gabriel asked, holding a shotgun to the nearest head. That got their attention, “Where is the outlaw Jesse McCree? Is he your boss? Tell me how this one man has managed to kill a sum total of eight of my best men all by himself. At least, that’s the name the survivors brought back to me. Who is he and what does he want?”

They all looked at each other in confusion.

“Cat got your tongues?” Gabriel asked, firing a round into the dirt in front of one boy’s knees. “Who is he? Tell me or you all get the bullet.”

“It’s him!” One of them finally squeaked, flailing his tied hands out and pointing at one of the other boys in front, “He ain’t nobody’s boss! He’s just our sharpshooter!”

Gabriel turned to look at the boy in question. He was on his knees with his hands behind his head like all the others, but instead of throwing nasty glares or crying, he was just silently staring at the ground. The six shooter at Gabriel’s feet. The ones Ana warned him about. The kid he had stopped from shooting Jack. Gabriel looked from the guns back to the kid. His hair was chin length, brown, and dirty. His clothes were average deadlock garb, but with a red neck scarf added.

“You.” Gabriel addressed him, “This kid telling the truth? You Jesse McCree?”

“Yessir,” he replied in a quiet voice.

“You know how many people you killed? Good fucking people?”

“Forty seven, Sir.”

“What?”

“Forty seven people, Sir.”

“You keep count?” He found himself asking.

“Yessir.”

“Are you going to kill him?” One of the other boys asked.

“Why? You wanna go first?” Gabriel fired back with a snarl.

“No Sir!” The boy whimpered, “He’s just...He’s his favorite. You hurt Jesse...he’ll come for you.”

Jack and Gabriel exchanged glances and Jack barked, “Whose favorite?”

“Richter Raleigh, o-our boss. Jesse’s his-”

“Another word out of your mouth Hampton and these pretty boy uptight fuckers won’t have to shoot you because I will!” Jesse threatened. Jack put his rifle to the boy’s neck and forced his face to the ground.

“Shut up now,” Jack told him.

“What does that mean?” Gabriel asked, keeping his calm. “Finish kid, go on. He doesn’t have his gun.”

“Jesse’s his. That’s the rules. Nobody’s allowed to...to touch him.”

Gabriel looked at Jesse again, who was staring at the ground even more intently, his face bright red.

“So, you’re the prize shooter in Deadlock and Richter is your Lieutenant,” Gabriel summarized, “And you’re his favorite. Good.”

“He won’t pay you shit for me,” Jesse beat him to it, “You don’t seem to understand. I’m his favorite. He’s not going to pay you, he’s going to kill you. What’s his is his and he’s not going to bargain for something he already owns.”

“He owns you?”

“Might as well,” Jesse said.

“Well as a matter of fact we don’t want him to pay us, and I doubt very much that he’s going to kill us. Load ‘em up boys, transport’s here,” Gabriel said, as the dropship landed nearby.

The boys were hoisted to their feet and pushed in the direction of the carrier. Angela stood up immediately and came out to see them.

“Which of them is injured the worst?” She asked. Gabriel shoved a few her way and she looked them over while Jack guarded the rest. He watched them all, most of them looking like they were going to shit themselves with how in over their heads they were, but McCree looked calm as could be. He watched the scrappy kid look around until finally the boy’s eyes landed on something and stayed there. Jack tilted his head in confusion and followed the boy’s line of sight. There across the way looking at the other kid Ana had shot, was Angela, wrapping gauze around his arm. Jack moved to block his vision, meeting eyes with him and shooting a glare. The kid simply blinked back at him.

“Don’t use all of that, Jack’s hurt too,” Gabriel said to Angela.

“Mein gott why didn’t anyone tell me!” She gasped in outrage. She huffed and marched over, forcing Jack’s coat off and pulling out the bullet, “You’re lucky this didn’t hit an artery Jack Morrison or you would be in deep trouble.”

“No thanks to him,” Jack replied, still glaring at McCree, who remained stone faced.

It was a long way to Zurich, but they were there before they knew it, and Jack shuffled off to the medical bay for proper stitches while Ana and Gabriel went to interrogation. Rita Santiago, one of Gabriel’s Lieutenants in Blackwatch, had McCree, the boy struggling the whole way.  
“Hey get the fuck off me will you I can walk fine by myself!” He said, squirming against the grip her right hand had in his shirt.

“And give me my hat back!”

“Shut it kid,” Santiago replied, shoving him into the room. Ana looked at Gabriel in with her lips firmly pressed together and a dissatisfied look in her eye.

“Who do you want to talk to first? I don’t know how much any of them know but it’s worth a try finding out whatever we can about Deadlock and this Raleigh person.”

“I want to talk to McCree,” Gabriel said, “Don’t bother with the others, they don’t know anything beyond what we do. You can go ahead and send them to lockup.”

“Why is McCree special then?”

“You heard what he said. That the man _owns_ him. Plus he’s at least three or four years younger than your average Deadlock member. That’s...unsettling don’t you think?”

“Yes, very. What are you going to do about it?” Ana asked, her hands on her hips.

Gabriel put a hand on his hip, looking over the list of names and positions in Deadlock of the men they had gathered, “Just talk to him. He’s bound to know quite a bit.”

“Alright. I’ll have Angela send Jack along when she can. This is everything intelligence could get on him,” Ana said, “They collected data from everywhere available in America.”

Gabriel took the bag and the pair of them entered the room where they were keeping the boy. His hands in cuffs locked to the table, he sighed upon seeing them enter.

“Seeing me first huh?”

“Seeing you last too,” Gabriel replied.

“Yeah well you can go fu-”

“Hey!” Ana slammed her fist down on the table, “We won’t talk to you at all if you’d prefer, and you’ll be off to lockup with the rest of your friends.”

“Well first off Lady, they ain’t my friends,” McCree hissed.

“What are they then?”

“Fucking idiots, that’s what. I literally couldn’t care less about them. Raleigh made me take them with me even though I told him we couldn’t win a fucking fight against Overwatch and whatever freaky ass covert ops shit you are.” He nodded towards Gabriel’s black uniform.

“You knew Overwatch would be there?” Ana asked.  
“Of course, you guys are always trying to bust our deals, this one seemed to good to be true, we figured you were trying to start shit with us.”

Gabriel snapped, “Well forget about that, tell me about Raleigh.”

“Raleigh? Mean sonuvabitch. That’s all there really is. You know, robbin’ the old ladies and widows. Collecting his rent like the Sheriff of Nottingham and killing anyone who gets in the way of his business. He’s a gambler and will do anything as long as there’s a game involved,” Jesse said, “But he’s a down right cheater and will pull any kind of nasty trick to win.”

“To win?” Gabriel asked, “Like coming for you and taking back what’s his?”

“That’s right,” Jesse said back, “And I’ll be damned if he don’t kill every Overwatch agent that sets foot in Deadlock gorge after this. He’s kind of a shoot first ask questions later kind of guy.”

“I'm sure we can handle him. Naturally, I'm gonna ask you for everything you know, and the more you resist, the more it's going to hurt, you know that, right?”

“Ask away,” McCree said, "Fuck if I'm gonna rot in prison anyways better give Raleigh a goodbye present."

"Well his contacts, his addresses, anything you got on his business deals would be a big help kid," Gabriel said, handing him a note pad, "But every Deadlock member we've brought in here has told me they'd never squeal on your little family you got goin' on." 

"Nothing matters much anymore," Jesse told him, creating a rather lengthy list, "Might as well do a little good before I get put away. That might atone for some of it." 

"Atone?" Gabriel asked, "Kid are you sure you're Deadlock?" 

He looked up with sad sunken eyes and Gabriel...understood. 

"I got nothin' left man, I had to run with them to survive."

“And those forty seven people you killed?”

“Kill or be killed. In three years I didn’t hurt nobody who wasn’t already pointing a gun at me,” He answered, “And I didn’t enjoy it.”

“So how does a seventeen year old twig of a kid like you nearly out-shoot our professional sniper when I know for a fact there are adults in Deadlock incapable of hitting the broad side of a barn.”

“My Pa taught me to shoot,” McCree replied, “I’ve got an eye for targets.”

“And where is your father now?” Gabriel asked.

“Dead with the rest of my family,” He explained, “He and Ma got into a dispute with Deadlock over territory and the location of our farm. When they burnt it down, everyone died. My parents, and my two brothers. Only my little sister and I made it out, because of Raleigh. And he took me in.  And everything I’ve ever done with Deadlock has been because I owed him for saving my life. I was twelve years old what choice did I have? Look I respect you guys, I really do, but-.”

“But you had to kill a few of our agents?” Ana said.

"Ana," Gabriel warned.

“Ma’am I’m sorry,” Jesse said, staring at the floor, “But I didn’t want to die. I try not to hurt your agents, I missed most of my shots today on purpose. But Raleigh has quotas. You have to be at least partially successful or else. Part of me was hoping one day you'd get the upper hand and take me...”   

“And then what?” Ana asked, “What did you think we could do for you besides send you to prison where you belong for what you’ve done to so many people?”

“What would you do if you had the chance to bring justice to the man who killed your family?” Jesse answered, “I swear to god I can rot in prison for eternity and be content as long as I know you’re gonna get him for what he did.”

“We will kid,” Gabriel said, “For now I will settle with that list of contacts and addresses. But later after I make a few decisions, we’ll talk about making a deal.”

“A deal?” Jesse asked.

“You have talent. And this freaky ass covert ops shit needs talent like that. You wouldn’t be allowed within twenty feet of Overwatch’s roster. But Blackwatch will gladly take you if you’re up for it. Might be a chance at redemption. And a chance to march right back into Santa Fe and raise a little hell for the Deadlock Gang.”

“You know for a grim reaper looking ass motherfucker you talk a lot of things that I like to hear,” Jesse smiled.

“Gabriel,” Ana warned, “I’m going to bet that Jack hasn’t heard a word of this.”

“No he has not,” Gabriel said.

“What hasn’t Jack heard?” The man himself asked, coming into the room with a sling on his left arm. He saw Jesse sitting there, who waved at him, and he frowned, “You’re talking to the one that shot me?”

“Turns out Jesse McCree is a very interesting young man with a lot of information under his hat and a lot revenge on his mind.”

“No.” Jack said, “Absolutely  not.”

“He’s a child Jack! Haven’t you realized it yet? We can’t send him to prison with the others there’s no place run by Overwatch that will take him. He either stays or we release him and Deadlock gets their hands on him again.”

“You aren’t letting this street rat into whatever scheme you have going on for Deadlock Gabriel.”

“Worse than that,” Ana said, “He wants him in Blackwatch.”

“Absolutely not!” Jack protested, “He _shot_ me!”

“I’ll shoot you again if you don’t stop whining about it,” Jesse muttered.

Gabriel laughed and Jack slammed his hand on the table.

“You listen here you little punk we don’t have to send you to prison I can send you to a hole in the ground instead.”

“Bring it blondie I got nothing else to live for ‘cept putting a bullet in Richter Raleigh’s face but from the sound of it your boyfriend is gonna take care of that for me so I’m all yours. Gimme a viking funeral light my ass up. I’ll be watching over you in heaven with two proud middle fingers.”

Ana turned to look at Gabriel who had to keep a hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing too hard as Jack’s face turned scarlet.

“Gabriel I swear to god you don’t dare put him in Blackwatch or I’m demoting you.”

The commander left as soon as he had came, slamming the door behind him.

“Go do your thing,” Gabriel told Ana, “You know we need him as much as I do. I’ll take care of him from here.”

“That’s the only reason why you bring me along, so I can convince Jack after the fact,” Ana sighed, standing up, “I can’t promise you this time Gabriel.”

“Sure you can,” After she left, this time with a soft click of the door closing, Gabriel produced a key and unchained Jesse from the table, only to put him in a pair of normal handcuffs, “Alright, get up, you can come with me, I’ll take you to get some new clothes. You’ll still have to be in the cells of course but after seeing Jack’s face I’ll at least allow you to be comfortable for the night.”

“Sure thing Sir,” McCree said, standing.

“You can call me Gabriel if I can call you Jesse,”

“Uh, sure thing Gabriel,” Jesse replied.

“This way to the locker room then,” Gabriel directed, letting Jesse walk in front of him.

“So why does pretty boy have such a stick up his ass?”

“Jack is a very busy man with a lot of work to do that’s all,” Gabriel asked.

“Uh huh. He turned red when I said you were his boyfriend.”

Gabriel merely huffed, “That was a long time ago.”

“Knew it.” Jesse said under his breath.

They made their way downstairs to a large room with almost a hundred labeled lockers and Gabriel picked up a spare uniform from nearby.

“There’s showers and you can wear this. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable but I have to stay with you for obvious reasons.”

“Don’t bother me much, not like Deadlock had private showers anyways.” Jesse shrugged, taking the clothes

“Alright. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll be standing right here.”

After a very quick shower Jesse stepped out and sat down on a nearby bench with his back to him as he put the pants on. Gabriel gasped at the sight. Running up and down, side to side,  and in every other direction on his back there were long jagged scars, some pushed out and white against his skin, others were round and flat like burns. There were few enough to count them individually, but Gabriel recognized their causes, and he could feel a burning hatred taking up residence inside his heart. None of them could have been done by Jesse himself, that much was sure. Continuing to study, his heart skipped a beat when he laid eyes on one scar just between his shoulder blades. It was a brand. Raleigh was spelled out in a scar no bigger than a credit card.

“What the fuck did he do to you? What is that on your back?” he demanded.

Jesse jumped, surprised by the new tone, “Scars, man! Shit you fuckers are scarred beyond belief you look like you’ve gone toe to toe with a mountain lion don’t you know what scars are?!”

“I meant the name,” Gabriel said.

“It’s his brand, okay? Forget about it.”

“He branded you?”

“He likes to do fucked up shit like that,” Jesse’s voice trailed off as he grabbed a shirt.

“None of the others had it.”

“I’m his favorite, remember?” Jesse said, shoving a shirt on.

“What a sick son of a bitch,” Gabriel said, reaching out.

“Don’t touch me,” Jesse said firmly, and Gabriel immediately rescinded his hand.

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel told him, “I won’t.”

The kid took up the sweatshirt that was provided and he slipped it on with ease, it was much too big for him, but it was the smallest they had. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a long while before Jesse stopped doing what he was doing.

“Ask it,” Jesse muttered, “Your question. I know you have one, I can see the wheels in your head”

Gabriel rubbed at his face and sighed, “Was this all he did? Did he do anything else to you?”

“Don’t know what you mean.”

“You know damn well what I mean,” Gabriel huffed.

“Does it make any difference to you whether or not I say yes or no?” Jesse replied, “Would you just let me go if I said I got violated more than anyone else in that godforsaken gang of idiots?”

Gabriel was silent.

“Exactly. It doesn’t make a goddamn bit of difference to you,” the kid said. He went to move past him but Gabriel stood in the way.

“I’m sorry,” He said, “I’ll be back to take you to the kitchen in a minute.” And that was all he said before turning and leaving Jesse alone in the locker room.

Ana was waiting outside for Gabriel to return.

“What are you doing where is he?” Ana asked, handing him his coat.

“I need Angela to take a look at him,” Gabriel told her, “His back is all torn up, some of them are new. Done by that bastard. We have to take him Ana, he has nobody. He's been abused, and it's...it's bad.”

"Then we'll take him," Ana replied, "I talked to Jack, and he isn't happy but...he agrees that we can't just let him go either. Are you sure about this Gabriel?" 

"He's clearly suffered for years," Gabriel looked at the floor as he spoke, "He's been brave, to last that long. Someone has to do him some justice." 

Ana frowned, “And you left him in there by himself? Gabriel?”

“I think he needed his privacy,” Gabriel admitted before walking away to Jack who was nearby.

Ana continued to watch the doors before deciding to go in herself.

She opened one door hesitantly, until she heard muffled crying and she ran straight to the problem. The kid was sitting on the bench with his knees pulled to his chest, his face pressed into his folded up standard issue hoodie crying. All at once none of the other details mattered. He was upset, in pain, and the mother in her instantly yearned to make it better. 

“Jesse?” She asked, sitting down next to him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Why are you doing this?” He asked, his voice muffled in the hoodie, “Why all this? Giving me a place here? Even entertaining the idea- I killed your people and you’ve only known me for two hours.”

“You need our help,” She replied, “You’re just a child...”

“I think you’re making a mistake,” Came a voice from outside.

“I’m sorry you feel that way Jack but I’m not sending him to prison,” Reyes reasoned, “He’s staying.”

“You don’t know where he’s been, you don’t know anything about him! What if this is Deadlock’s way of getting someone on the inside?”

“Deadlock is dumber than I thought if they sent a teenager on a high stakes espionage mission like this. He barely has facial hair,” Reyes snorted.

“What if that’s the ploy?” Morrison asked, “Kids can do no wrong right?”

Reyes sighed, “Do you understand what a joke is anymore?”

“This isn’t a game Gabriel!” the other Commander raised his voice and Jesse shrunk down and curled up into a ball. Ana squeezed his shoulder.

“They do bicker a lot, don’t they?” She asked, “I promise, it’s just a lover’s quarrel.”

“Can’t imagine anyone like those two being in love,” Jesse muttered.

“Ah well, it was a long time ago, that’s true, they would never admit to it now,” She replied, “But you can keep a secret can’t you?”

“Yes'm,” He replied.

“I’ll let you in on one then,” She told him, “No matter what you hear around this place, Gabriel is the sweetest man you will ever know, and he will always protect you. You’re one of us now, and you can always come to me or Gabe if you need something. If you’re scared, or feel threatened, or if there’s anything you need to tell us. We will listen.”

“And Commander Morrison?” Jesse asked, stealing a glance at the door.

“He’s an agreeable man, he’ll come around,” She said with a wink.

Jesse still looked at the door with hesitation, and she responded by taking his hand and squeezing it.

“You don’t have to be scared of them,” She told him, “You never have to be scared of anyone ever again Jesse.”  

Jesse uncurled and pushed himself into Ana’s embrace, crying his eyes out into her chest.

“Shhh, it’s alright. Jack doesn't want you to join Blackwatch but he has agreed to let you stay with us. Someone will be with you at all times but you’ll have a room instead of a cell and you can eat with us if you want.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s go back out there hmm? Gabriel wants you to get some food in you before anything else. You look severely underweight for a boy your age.”

Ana brought him back out to Gabriel with a hand on his back.

“Go and eat, we can handle the rest afterwards,” she said. Jesse paused before giving Gabriel an enormous hug.

“Thank you so much for this chance.”

“Kid that’s what we do. Save lives, help people. You’re never gonna be at the mercy of monsters like that ever again,” Gabriel said. Jack even looked a little sympathetic standing behind him.

“I promise you.”

 


	3. The First Step

Snaking across the base on their way to the cafeteria, Gabriel gave him a small tour, explaining how they chose Zurich for their headquarters, the basic layouts and directions, etcetera. In one hallway they came across a group of agents passing by, and Jesse frowned. He maintained a sour face as they looked at him with judgement clear on their faces until he caught sight of someone who was trailing behind them. The woman from the dropship, with her blonde hair in a ponytail high on her head and big, round, glasses. She was holding a stack of papers, and Jesse met eyes with her. Her eyes were so soft-

WHAM.

Jesse’s head burned with pain as he stumbled backwards. He looked away from the woman to his front, where he had promptly walked into a wall. Gabriel was snickering, as were the agents, but the woman was silent, her face bright red.

Jesse shook his head in alarm and whistled in frustration.

“Are you okay?” She asked, kneeling down next to him and searching his head.

“Yeah Sugar I’m just fine, you?” He asked.

“Come on we don’t have all day,” Gabriel pulled him up and the woman tilted her head in curiosity. Jesse looked at her the longest that he could manage before being forced around the corner.

“Who was that?” He asked.

“Someone majorly out of your league Cowboy, don’t even think about it.”

“She taken?”

“No, but Jack already hates you and believe me going after her won’t make that situation any better.”

“Who said I was trying to go after her in the first place?”

“The wall,” Gabriel commented, holding open the door for him.

The cafeteria like area was mostly empty at the time, but Jesse could see one woman sitting in the corner, sipping on a beer and reading a chemistry book. Her eyes focussed on the book until she sensed someone watching and without moving her eyes simply flicked to Jesse. They were different colors, but both were menacing. She stared back at him until he looked away.

Gabriel clapped him on the back, “Alright kid, whadya want for food?”

“Uhhhhhhhh” Jesse nervously looked at the options in the deli counter.

“We have people from all over the globe here, so whatever you’re feeling like I’m sure we have,” Gabriel said, “We have lots of talented chefs.”

“I don’t….I don’t know…” Jesse whispered, looking, “I mean...I eat what we steal I’ve never had a choice like this before I don’t even know what’s good.”

Gabriel’s eyebrows were raised, “...right. Uh, you know of any dietary restrictions? Milk? Peanut butter?”

“I don’t think so,” Jesse said, “Only one way to find out.”

“Well I think your stomach couldn’t handle some of the more adventurous food here just yet so let’s think about something simple.”

“Are you sure?” Jesse asked, “Like, that I’m allowed to have this? I don’t want to take anything-”

“Believe me, it’s okay,” Gabriel said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “You don’t have to worry about the food, it’s for you, and no one else. I won’t force you to eat but you look like you need it kid. You’re not stealing it from anyone, you can eat what you want.”

Jesse looked uncomfortable with the idea but with a certain hesitance he asked, “Do y’all have pizza?”

“Yes we do, here.”

Gabriel opened the food warmer and found the biggest slice he could get his hands on.

“I’ll get you a soda, go sit down.”

Jesse opted for one of the tables in the center, reasonably away from the strange woman. Until it wasn’t.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” She commented, suddenly opposite him with her book.

“I’m new,” Jesse tried to look her in the eyes but they were too analytical, cold. One was blue, the other a rather intimidating shade of red.

“Well hello ‘New’,” She said to him, “If you’re ever in need of any...improvements, shall we say, my office is right next to Gabriel’s.”

“I think I’ll be fine thanks,” Jesse squeaked back.

She smiled, it was unsettling, but thankfully her long and lanky legs were good for something and that was long strides away from him.

Gabriel came with two sodas in hand, looking after the woman.

“Who the hell was that?” Jesse asked.

“Moira,” Gabriel replied, “You pay her no attention, and if she offers you anything, refuse it. Understand?”

“S-Sure thing,” Jesse said, looking at his pizza.

“Now, before we get too invested in this, Jesse McCree, I am going to warn you,” Gabriel said, “I am giving you this opportunity because right off the bat I realized you are a kid with a decent heart in a very bad situation. Let be absolutely crystal clear. This isn’t going to be easy. It will hard. Harder than anything. We are going to train you and it might break you. You’re still going to have to kill people, that’s what we do to keep peace sometimes. I am going to push you harder than anyone and you’re going to hate me but hopefully you’re going to be a better agent, and a better person, after all is said and done. That being said, if you do anything, /anything/ that might suggest that you mean to bring harm to anyone in this organization, my family, I will end you. And it won’t be pretty. Do you understand?” Gabriel drew attention to the gun at his hip and Jesse tensed.

“Yessir,” Jesse nodded.

“Good, then that's all out of the way. Now, I want you to know that Ana and I are here to help and we're gonna take care of you. I know this is a big change and it'll take time for some of my agents to get used to you, so they'll be a little...hesitant...shall we say, to trust you. But if you have problems with anyone you tell me first, okay?" Gabriel asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

"Yessir," Jesse said again.  

"Alright. You go on and enjoy your pizza then.”

Sometime later after Jesse had eaten four slices of pizza and downed three sodas, he wiped his mouth politely and cleared his throat.

“Alright kid? Doctor Ziegler’s waiting for us, come with me so we can do your physical,” Gabriel tugged on his shoulder. Jesse got up and followed him out, throwing away his trash.

“Doctor Ziegler huh?” Jesse raised an eyebrow, “I hate doctors.”

Gabriel smiled, opening the double doors to another hallway that was very clearly styled to look like a hospital.

“You’re not gonna hate this one.”

“Yeah I bet. Gimme five minutes and we’ll be shouting at each other.”

“Well it’s either this one or Moira you can take your pick,” Gabriel huffed.

“This one’s fine!” Jesse said immediately. He shuddered to think of that woman looking at him as his doctor. It was just downright creepy.

Gabe shook his head and opened the door to an office.

“Ziegler, I got McCree here for his phys.”

“Wunderbar Gabriel thank you!”

“Oh no,” Jesse breathed, recognizing the voice.

“Oh yes, make sure she checks you for a concussion, you walked into that wall pretty hard.”

“You bastard.” Jesse hissed.

Gabriel merely laughed and closed the door with a click.

“Hello! How is your head? I’m sorry you ran into the wall like that,” She said, touching his forehead. “Those corridors aren’t the widest…”

“No I reckon I’m alright now,” he replied, “And you can call me Jesse.”

“Jesse!” She smiled, testing the sound on her tongue, “What a nice name! And your accent is so sweet where are you from?”

“Santa Fe,” He replied, “You?”

“Here actually, Switzerland,” She smiled.

“I didn’t know the Swiss were so beautiful,” He slipped, then covered his mouth, “Er...sorry.”

“It’s alright, thank you for the compliment. I'm Doctor Ziegler, as I'm sure Gabriel told you. You've had a pretty rough day hmm?"

"Understatement," Jesse replied.

She nodded, "I'd imagine. Well, Gabriel wanted me to take care of this as soon as possible so you didn't have to worry about it later. I'm going to do a complete physical checkup, taking your basic vitals, listening to your heart and lungs. Measurements for your uniform, etcetera. There's going to be blood and urine tests also. Seeing as you probably haven't seen a medical professional since you were twelve, according to Ms. Santiago, I'm going to have to update your shots also. So probably a Flu, Tdap, MMR, Chicken Pox and HPV."

"I'm sorry, what now?" Jesse asked, feeling his brain spin a bit.

"Vaccines," Angela explained, "To prevent Flu, Tentanus, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Human papillomavirus, and I'm sure Chicken Pox is self explanatory."

Jesse bit his lip and nodded, "Yeah sure, I probably don't want any of that."

"We’ll start by measuring you, take your shoes off please and stand here,” She pointed with her pen to a corner of the office where several tick marks on the wall indicated height. He did as he was told and watched as she got downright punishingly close to tap her pen to the wall above his head. Stretching upwards on the tip of her toes to see the results Jesse could smell the sweet honeysuckle perfume she was wearing. Making sure Jack Morrison didn’t hate him was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

“Five foot eleven!” She smiled, coming down on her heels, “Oh I forgot to ask, how old are you Jesse?”

“I’m S-Seventeen,” He said, staring at her.

“Oh wow! You’re my age!” She said.

“Are you serious?! You’re a doctor?!”

“I graduated with my MD and two PhDs last year,” she said, “I’m a bit of a whiz kid, as Jack calls me.”

“Golly,” He said, “I never even thought about school before. I must be pretty unintelligent compared to you…”

“Nonsense! There must be plenty of things that you’re better at than me, we all have a talent. I hear you’re an excellent shot. I couldn’t hit a person if they were right in front of me. Step on this scale please. 122, that’s okay, but we really should have Gabriel plan more meals for you...” She wrote something on the holographic clipboard.

“Now it’s my impression that you’re going to join Blackwatch as a sharpshooter. Are you a sniper?”

“No Ma’am,” He said.

“Well regardless I’m going to test your vision. You’re going to cover each eye one at a time and read some letters off of this chart for me alright?”

He did as he was told and she told him he had near perfect vision and then she pulled out some instruments.

“We’ll take your blood pressure, heart rate, and then I will need to take a little blood and some urine so I can test you for any drugs or diseases.”

“Thankfully I haven’t dabbled in either but do what you gotta do Doc.”

The blood drawing didn’t feel great and going to the bathroom to pee in a cup wasn’t too fun either, but Angela smiled at him all the same when he was done.

“The results on these should come back soon. Just to warn you, I’m going to listen to your heart and this is quite cold, don’t be too astonished.” She came up next to him, reaching under his shirt and pressing the stethoscope into his back.

“Shit you’re right,” He said, “That’s cold.”

“Hmm, your lungs sound fair but I’d bet my medical degree you smoke.”

“Um...yes...it was the only comfort I was allowed to have for a while now.”

“I assume you already know what those can do to you,” She frowned.

“Yessum.”

“Well as your new doctor obviously I would advise you to give it up”

“But?”

“I know what this job does to people,” She replied, “It won’t be easy Jesse.”

He looked away but then suddenly remembered, “Uh, Doctor Ziegler?”

“Yes?”

“You mind if I ask what your name is?”

“Oh, silly me, it’s Angela.”

“Angela,” He repeated back to her, “That’s a mighty fitting name, why if it weren’t for your lack of wings I’d say I was in the presence of angel.”

“You sure are a charmer,” Angela told him with a laugh. She next door briefly and came back with several small vials.

"It's shots time," She told him, a sympathetic look on her face, "It's okay, no one likes them."

"Yeah okay," Jesse frowned, "If I could handle that needle taking blood, I guess I can handle these too."

"It'll be very quick, you won't feel a thing," She promised, yet he was skeptical. She definitely proved him wrong.

"Now, I'm going to count to three okay? And on three, it will be all done!" She said, "Then we'll move onto the next one."

"You got it," Jesse replied.

"I think it helps to keep your eyes closed, you won't know what's coming and you won't have that anticipation of watching me stick you with it," She advised. He did as she recommended and closed his eyes tight.

"Ready?"

He nodded.

"Oooooooooooone," She drawled, "Twoooooooooooooo."

He laughed at her tone.

"Two and a haaaaaaaaaaaalf,"

He heard the paper of a bandaid pack being ripped open.

"Three! All done!" She said, tapping him gently on the collar bone.

Jesse opened his eyes to find that there were in fact five band aids each with a little yellow smiley face divided between each arm.

"I took the liberty of doing all five while you weren't paying attention," She said with smile.

"Well shit."

They continued on with the examination until Angela finally set everything aside and sat down on her rolling stool.

“Now Jesse, Gabriel sent me a memo that you had some extensive scarring on your back, and that some of the wounds were relatively new, may I look at them?” She asked.

Jesse pulled his shirt over his head and she stood up, coming to look him over. She ran a cool hand over some of them. He knew most of them hadn’t been stitched properly and he almost felt guilty having her see, like a kid who hadn’t brushed his teeth and was about to see a dentist.

“How barbaric. Whoever did this-” She stopped herself, pulling away, “Most of them are healing fine but I’m going to disinfect the new ones and bandage them alright?”

“Go ahead,” He told her.

Having her eyes over his back made him uncomfortable. He could feel her gaze over each one of his wounds as she dressed them.

“These are much worse than I expected,” She told him, “How did you-”

“A very bad man,” Jesse answered, “That’s all I’m gonna say.”

“No worries, I’m sorry if I upset you.”

Gabriel managed to slip his way into the room just as they were finishing, Jesse putting his shirt back on and Angela writing something down on her clipboard.

“So how’d I do, Doc?” Jesse asked her, looking up with a sly grin on his face. Gabriel wasn’t sure that the kid even knew his new mentor had walked in.

“Just fine Jesse, you look to be in good shape, vision and reflexes are good, albeit you’re a little malnourished. I’ll tell Gabriel to give you full access to the fridge, at your age you should be eating like there’s no tomorrow.”

“If I did so good, do I get a lollipop?” He teased.

Ziegler looked flustered.

“I uhm, I don’t have any,” She said, confused, “I could ask to have some brought in if-”

McCree tried to hold himself back from laughing, “Nah Sugar, that’s alright, you’re a lot sweeter to look at then a piece of candy anyways.”

Gabriel was amused, but they really were on a tight schedule. “Jesse,” he called, making his presence known, “Stop flirting with the doctor and lets get going. Your room is ready”

Jesse turned red, and hopped off the table.

“Thanks Doctor Ziegler, have a good day,” He said to her, like a child who had been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to.

“Of course,” She trailed off, watching him leave. The door closed with a click and Angela found herself wondering just what on earth Gabriel was getting that boy into.

When Gabriel opened the door to Jesse’s new room, his jaw dropped.

“This is for me?” He walked in. The bed was freshly made, a twin, and there was a desk, a dresser. It even had it’s own bathroom. He turned around again and again, trying to take it all in.

“Yeah, sorry if it’s a bit small, it’s all we had for now,” Gabriel said.

“All you had?!” Jesse went to look at the pillows. There were mints there for fuck’s sake, “I think I would pop a blood vessel if I saw your room. It must be five times as big as this, and this is huge! I used to sleep in a dishwasher box!”

Gabriel adjusted his beanie and took a breath, “I’m sorry Jesse, I forgot.”

He watched the boy rub his hands all over the comforter, the pillows, everything. He looked like a child in a candy store. Especially when he noticed what was on the dresser.

“My hat!” Jesse grabbed the cowboy hat and shoved it on his head faster than Gabriel could blink. “Man this is the best!”

“I’m glad you like it,” Gabriel said. Jesse happily nodded and took one of the plush blankets into his hands.

“This is the softest thing I’ve ever felt,” Jesse breathed in the smell of the laundry detergent, “And the best smelling!”

There was a knock on the door frame and Jack was there.

“I see he’s very pleased with his accomodations,” Jack muttered. He shoved the papers he was holding in Gabriel’s direction, “Have him fill out and sign this. I’ve already had the lawyers contact the American government. He’s ours. Absolved of any and all charges in New Mexico.”

“Are you serious?!” Jesse called, from where he was sitting on the bed, “All of ‘em?!”

Jack with his hands on his hips, frowned and said, “Yes, even that charge against you by a Miss Anabelle Vega, the elderly woman who caught you drunk in her kitchen playing with her cat at four in the morning.”

“Aw, Snickerdoodle was the cutest,” Jesse said.

Jack’s brows furrowed, “Right. Well just get those signed and back to me so you can start training. And don’t think for a second I won’t kill you if you step out of line, McCree.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes and pointed Jack to the door. When he looked back, Jesse wasn’t smiling anymore.

“Look kid, don’t listen to him alright? He’ll get over his hurt pride eventually. He really is a reasonable guy, he’ll come around. I promise. Just sign these and we’ll have you training within the week okay?”

Jesse looked at the papers and took them hesitantly.

“What even are these?”

“Your contract,” Gabriel said, “How long you’ll be with us, what you can and cannot do as a member of Overwatch. Who you can and can’t talk to about work.”

“You reserve the right to throw me back in prison whenever you want?” Jesse continued.

“Basically,” Gabriel said, “But Jack knows that they can’t send you back to prison unless you actually do commit some sort of crime here, but you and I had that talk, you’re going to be on your best behavior right?”

“Yeah. Yeah I feel like that’s been scared into me enough at this point. You don’t have anything to worry about from me,” Jesse told him, looking down at the floor.

“Alright,” Gabriel said, “Once Angela gets back to us will all your results, we can start your training. My Lieutenant, Rita Santiago, is going to be watching your door tonight to make sure you don’t bail. If you need anything, she will get it for you, okay? I have more paperwork to fill out, you’ll be fine alone? Do you want me to explain some of the stuff in there? It's written for lawyers not kids, and you deserve to know what you're getting into.”

“It’s been a long day,” Jesse answered, handing back the papers after putting down his signatures, “I’m just going to sleep. The terms and conditions don't matter. Anything is better than being back with him.”

"You're making a very, very, good choice Jesse," Gabriel told him, "And it's admirable that you want to help us take him down. This is the first step to something much better okay? I have faith in you, and if you can have a little faith in me, we'll do great things."

"Whatever you say boss," Jesse smiled.

“Sweet dreams kid,” Gabriel replied, waving the papers and letting himself out.

Jesse flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

This was the strangest day of his life.


	4. Penny For Your Thoughts

As Jesse was thrown to the ground for the eighth time, he finally had to admit it to himself. Blackwatch fucking sucked.

Gabriel helped him to his feet once more and barked at him, “Again!”

The other agent came at Jesse with the force of a truck, Jesse did his best to dodge, this time even getting some good hits in, but Agent Akina was a warrior, he didn’t stand a chance against her. She grabbed him by the arm and threw him to the ground again.

“Timeout!” Came the call from the side. Gabriel’s Lieutenant Rita Santiago was waving her hands. Gabriel stood to the side, amused.

“So, Jesse, how do you feel?”

Jesse sat back, holding his arm, “Like shit! Obviously!”

“Well, this is what you’re up against. We’re going to train you with everything we got. And if you do good enough, you’ll be able to go toe to toe with Lona here and maybe even stand a chance at winning. But for now that’s enough for today, you can go on and go see Angela to make sure you’re not concussed.”

The other agents began to file out and Jesse reached out to Lona to help him stand up and she merely looked at his hand in confusion and disgust. She made her way out and it was Gabriel who came and helped him stand, Rita at his side.

“Ain’t too friendly are they?” Jesse muttered, brushing himself off

Gabriel looked to Rita then back at him, “You know kid, these people, my people, my agents. We’re family. We’re siblings and friends and tighter in many ways than the Overwatch members. I trust them all with my life. And respect, friendship? It all has to be earned. It’ll be rough but give ‘em time and reasons to believe you’re no longer a criminal, they’ll have your back for the rest of your life. Lona, Keiko, Flores, they’ve taken bullets for me. Prove to them that your convictions are strong and you’ll be our golden boy Jesse, you’ve got so much potential, and I hope you use it well.”

“I’m gonna do my best,” Jesse told him, “Not good at much besides shootin’ but I’ll give it my all.”

“We have faith in you, even Santiago, who never has faith in anyone.”

Rita laughed, “It’s rare but I think Gabe made the right call. You’re gonna do fine. Believe me, if we were allowed to tell you about some of the backstories we got here in Blackwatch, your hair would fall off. Everyone acts like we’ve never hired criminals to work for us before but honestly sometimes you just need the talent. Pay someone enough and they’ll gladly switch over to help the good guys. This will all blow over.”

“I hope so,” Jesse muttered.

“I know it will,” Gabriel smiled, “It’s been a good month of getting used to everything and you’ve already wormed your way into our hearts. Speaking of hearts, go see Angela so she can make sure yours isn’t going to like, blow up,”

“Sure thing boss,” Jesse replied, rubbing his sore neck. In the beginning it a tooth and nail fight between Gabriel and Jack to let him join the team, with Jack eventually seceding given that he knew Gabriel wasn’t going to give up any time soon and he didn’t feel like fighting anymore. Jesse was told that’s how things usually went around here. He hadn’t learned a whole bunch about anybody, mostly because no one wanted to talk to him except Gabriel and Ana. And Angela, that is. He had stayed in his room mostly, and kept to himself for the first few weeks. Jack had basically told anyone and everyone who he was and that got everyone up in arms about allowing a criminal on base and he’d been getting shit for it ever since.

Didn’t help that every single last one of the Blackwatch agents owed their lives to Jack and Gabriel, it made them all the more vicious to protect their own. The shit list was not something you wanted to be on. Jesse cracked his neck, just waiting. He kept on his path to what he believed was Angela’s office if he remembered correctly from the first night. His head down, hat on, minding his own business, but that didn’t stop them. He passed a group of agents and instantly knew he made a mistake coming this way.

“Nice work on the training field today shrimp,” One sniggered, stopping along with two other agents.

“Hey it’s my first day how about you cut me some slack?” Jesse asked.

Lona came to stand in front of the other two women and frowned at him.

“We don’t cut slack to criminals. I don’t trust you. I don’t like you. And if your slimy little Deadlock ass touches a single one of my agents I will disembowel you, you understand?” She asked.

“I’ve been getting that a lot lately,” Jesse swallowed nervously, “I understand.”

“Good, so why don’t you scram,” She said.

“I have to go see Doctor Ziegler,” He replied, “You already beat me up today remember?”

“Want me to do it again?” She came up, her shoulders forward and her face inches from Jesse’s. She was tall, and she didn’t let anyone forget it. But Jesse wasn’t going to have this much longer. 

“Go for it,” Jesse answered, "I know I don't come from shit, that I'm nothing but a criminal to you people, but I'm not gonna be bullied by you either way."   
He had to admit, Lona was a scary ass piece of work. She was an ex-soldier, the only survivor of a deadly omnic encounter in Hawaii, defending her home. She had scars that would put some of the best to shame, but not Jesse. Not after what he had in Deadlock.

“Lona, it ain’t worth it,” One of her girls called back, “Jesse’s his, you hurt him Gabriel will have your ass on a platter.”  
His breath hitched at the words, dropping his head immediately to looking at the floor.

“You okay there, McCree?” Lona asked in surprise. Suddenly her tough demeanor had shattered.

“What are you all doing here?!” Came a snap, “Lona, Keiko, Flores, aren’t you supposed to be starting up for a mission to Dubai? The fuck are you doing here starting shit with McCree, get your asses back to your jobs.” Jesse couldn’t look up but he knew it was Santiago.

“Yes Ma’am!” the other two girls said. Lona didn’t reply to Rita, but he was sure he could hear her mutter an apology to Jesse before their boots clacked away. He could still hear her voice in the back of his head.

“Jesse’s his, you hurt him Raleigh will have your ass on a platter.”  
Jesse inhaled sharply, and that’s when his hat fell. He finally pulled his head up when he saw a manicured hand retrieve it for him. When he met Rita’s eyes, they were filled with concern and sympathy.

“Jesse, you okay?” She asked.

He blinked at her, and he reached back and felt the back of his neck.

At seeing this, Rita immediately told him, “You’re safe here Jesse, we’re in Overwatch right now. Do I need to take you to your room? I’m free the next hour, we can talk. I’m going to pull everyone together later for a talk about manners, if that helps.”

Jesse removed his hand like it had burned him, and he just gaped at her like a fish. She offered him his hat, “Gabriel told me what happened, and Jesse, you belong to no one. Understand me? No one. Who can I get for you? Ana? Gabriel? Angela?”

At the mention of Angela he snapped out of it. “N-No, I’m fine,” Jesse said with a shake of his head. He took his hat and replaced it, “I was on my way to her anyways, you can go about your business.”

“I’ll walk you, make sure nobody else decides to have a go at you. I admire your willingness to stand up to her, she acts tough but as you saw, she’s known pain, and it looks like she’s already starting to care about you no matter what she says,” Rita told him. She walked with him down the hall, thankfully, since after a few minutes Jesse realized that he actually didn’t remember how to get to where he was going at all. When they got to the medical wing Rita stopped at Angela’s door and nodded towards it.

Jesse knocked and when the door opened he was met with that same bright smile as the last time.

“Angela, I got McCree here to see you,” Rita said, pushing Jesse inside gently. She shared a polite node with Angela before leaving and the Doctor closed the door after her.

“Back again so soon?” She asked Jesse, going to sit down.

“Yeah, Lona went pretty rough,” Jesse came in and sat down on the table as was routine by now.

“Your first official day on Blackwatch isn’t going too well then hm?” She rolled her stool across the tiled floor over to her desk, where her staff was leaning against the wall. She took in in hand and twisted the handle until the warm light started to emit from it, then she handed it to Jesse.

“Just hold it, it should be able to do it’s work even if it’s not in my hands, I have some files to look at,” She said. He held the staff upright while she rolled back over to her computer where she began flipping through the hologram files.

“How about you?” He asked, “You havin’ a good day?”

“About as good as usual,” She adjusted her glasses, “Reinhardt was in here again, I keep telling him not to charge into battle like that but does he listen? Nein! Jack’s no better. I’m amazed at how they lived this long.” She shook her head and brushed a chunk of her hair away from her glasses, “Speaking of which, your physical from yesterday came back great, you’ve put that weight on nicely.”

“It ain’t my own doing. Ana keeps putting plates in front of me. I tell her not to worry about feeding me but she does it anyways, it’s kind of….kind of uncomfortable. I haven’t had a mom in a long time.”

Angela turned around in her chair, “I know how you feel,” She said quietly, “I couldn’t believe it either…”

“Yeah well I bet you were much better off regardless,” Jesse said, “Ana and Gabe are nice but the rest of them look at me like I’m...nothing. Half the Blackwatch team won’t speak to me or look me in the eye. It’s like I’m not human. I don’t know if I belong here….”

Angela removed her glasses and folded them neatly in her palm, “It is the natural human response to fear what we don’t understand, Jesse. They don’t hate you. They’re scared. A fox has come into the rabbit hole and they don’t understand if you’re good or bad yet. It’s awful that this is the way it has to be but it’s just the way it is. They want to push you away because they are unsure of who you are at heart.”

“Ana and Gabriel don’t,” Jesse muttered.

“Ana and Gabriel are wise enough to know when they have a double agent and when they have a teenager in over his head,” Angela explained, “To them, even if you were a double agent, you’re not a threat. They could handle you.”

“What about you then?” Jesse demanded, “You seem perfectly at ease just talking to me, without your gun on hand or someone else in the room, why is that?”

Angela laughed, and Jesse felt uneasy to hear it. She looked at the floor, smiling like he had triggered an inside joke between her and someone else, then she looked him in the eye.

“Death and I have had a long history,” She replied, “It no longer scares me.”

His brows furrowed and he opened his mouth a few times like he was going to say something but ultimately kept it close. Angela simply smiled back at him with that sad, knowing, smile.

“When my family was killed I spent those years wondering why I didn’t die with them. Why I had to survive without them. And sometimes I think about how this could all be a dream. That maybe I really died instead of them and that this isn’t the real world. That this is my personal heaven, or hell, who knows?” She shrugged, “I certainly don’t. I’ve worked on patients who have died. And the only conclusion I can come to is that life is short, and I can’t spend it worrying about death. If my time comes, it comes. And eventually I will get to be with my family one way or another. And if that way is the form of Jesse McCree about to shoot me because he’s a double agent, then I guess I won’t have to wait too long.”

“I would never,” Jesse told her, “Even if I were a double agent, I consider myself a man of honor. I wouldn’t hurt a doctor, or a lady as nice as you. I just...don’t get why it has to be this way,” He handed her the staff and she took it gingerly.

“It will get better,” She assured him.

“It burns, Doc, like everyone can see it, like I’m marked. I can feel their eyes,” Jesse said, holding the back of his neck, “Like I’m an imposter. I don’t feel like me. I feel like fresh meat and there’s nothing I can do to convince ‘em that I’m okay. I still feel like...like Raleigh still controls me, even though he doesn’t. And I don’t know if I made the right choice, what if I deserved the cell? What if they’re right about me, that I can’t do it?”

“Jesse,”  She gave up the pleasant tone, she couldn’t stand to see anyone looking so distressed. She set aside the staff and instead took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for a fierce hug, which she was surprised to feel him return the embrace readily.

“You are very strong, I want you to know that. Most criminals that come through here are riddled with fear and opt for prison. They don’t want to put in the hard work that comes with change. The fact that you’re even here says a lot. We’re going to protect you, and look out for you, and hopefully we can be friends?”

“Of course we can,” Jesse replied, taking in the sweet orange blossom scent in her hair.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” She asked as she pulled away.

“No I- I don’t know,” He said, “I just feel...tainted. You know? Like I’m unworthy of being here around all of you. Like I’m always going to be branded a criminal.”

“Well clearly you didn’t want to be a criminal anymore Jesse, you didn’t enjoy that life.”

“But that’s the problem….I did enjoy it...most of it anyways. When Richter would piss off on some business trip and let me have free reign. God it was freedom and I could go wherever do whatever. I’d get into bar fights, I’d go horse racin’, it was amazing. We could hold up liquor stores and get wasted underneath the stars. A bunch of kids just like me with no place to call home and no people to call family. When I wasn’t being beat up or bossed around, it was great. They were the people who raised me, regardless of what we did, the laws we broke. I miss ‘em, but I knew it couldn’t be forever. They still hurt people. Innocent people. I just finally had enough of it. It had been chipping away at me for a long time...and then it all started coming down around me. It wasn't fun anymore. I've been trying to leave for a long time but every time I got caught well...+”

“Jesse it's okay,” Angela said, “I know you've been hurt, but it’s still hard to leave your home and your friends to come be in a group of strangers who dislike you. But I can see you want to do something, anything, to make that part of you better. To wipe away the hurt you caused others. So what does it matter what we think of you? Give it time you’ll be fine.”

“I hope so Doc, thanks,” Jesse said, deflated.

“You’re always welcome to come and talk to me,” Angela told him, earning a sad smile in return. As she escorted him out of her office, she got the sneaking suspicion that something else was bothering him. He was holding the back of his neck as he left. She watched him leave and then went back to her computer, working through some of her emails. The sky outside was darkening as the day came to an end, and Angela couldn’t help but feel uncertain about her new friend’s future.


	5. Blood and Iron

As days passed, Angela found herself attending more and more of the Blackwatch training sessions. Adding a new member usually meant a lot of injuries, it was routine at this point to just schedule away extra time to be the medic on hand. Jesse took a lot of hits and his attitude didn’t seem to be improving. The more he trained, the stronger he got, but the more irritable he got in turn. Especially as she noticed the behaviors of the other members, who, like Jesse had said, barely looked at him. Even Jack was hesitant to even speak to him, and it absolutely bewildered her. She did her best, but at the end of the day she usually left it to Gabriel to take care of when she had to go back to her Overwatch duties.

Until one day.

Jesse already had a bruise forming on his face, Santiago standing over him. The Blackwatch roster standing around them. Jack present also. It was an exam day.

“You almost had me Jesse, but you’re too reckless,” She said, “You have to be watching for anything, not just taking swings.”

“I know, I know,” He coughed as he stood. Angela wanted to step in but Jack held her back.

Gabriel said, “Rita, go ahead and go, you have a mission to prepare for. I’ll finish up with McCree.”

Santiago nodded and gave Jesse a small pat on the head before leaving, taking a few agents with her.

“Angela, go ahead and patch him up. He won’t get hurt anymore today,” Gabriel said.

Activating her staff, Angela walked up to him and connected the beam with a smile that she hoped he would see as an apology.

“How do you feel?” She asked.

“Better already, thanks.”

“Can you keep going?” Gabriel asked him.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Jesse said, taking up a fighting stance.

Gabriel lunged and thankfully Jesse was able to dodge it with ease, getting a quick hit to Gabe’s side. He threw a punch as Gabriel turned around but was surprised when Gabriel grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder. Jesse landed on his back and barely had time to think before Gabriel used the same arm to turn him over and pin him to the ground with his face pressed against the floor and the arm pulled up behind his back in a painful hold.

Feeling the weight of the man on top of him Jesse started to feel claustrophobic. He felt the back of his neck twitch and all at once he felt every part of him go limp and a tightness in his lungs.

“Stop!” He yelled, “Please!”

Jack looked to Angela in curiosity, who barely noticed as she was watching the two others with worry.

Gabriel jumped off immediately and Jesse scrambled to his feet, panting, scared.

“Whoa, whoa, Jesse, I’m sorry,” Gabriel said immediately, “What-”

“Gabriel,” Angela warned, taking her hand and feeling the back of her own neck in demonstration. Gabriel looked to see that Jesse was doing the same and he frowned in realization. Jack was lost as he looked between them.

“I’m sorry,” Jesse said, “I’m sorry, I panicked, I- I don’t know why.”

“No, don’t apologize, it’s my fault,” Gabriel told him, “I pinned you a little too roughly, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Can I be done?” Jesse asked, and they could clearly see him shaking.

“Of course, if you want to talk-”

“No I just want to be alone...if that’s alright,” He said. It was then he looked around at the other Blackwatch agents. All of them staring, judging. He took a deep breath and hurried away regardless.

“What was that?” Jack asked as the Blackwatch agents began to disperse.

“Nothing you have to worry about,” Gabriel answered.

“You should follow him,” Angela advised, watching Jesse push the door open and leave like there was a fire alarm.

“No,” Gabriel replied, “That’s probably the last thing he wants right now, I brought back a bad memory and he needs to make himself safe so I’m going to let him be. I’ll check on him before bed. You get back to work, he’ll be okay.”

But later that night, around three am, Angela was woken up at the sound of a rapid knock at her door. Making herself decent by throwing a robe on she shuffled over and pressed the button, the door slid open to reveal Jesse standing in front of her like a child who had just broken a vase.

“What is it Jesse?” She asked, rubbing her eyes.

“I need your help,” Jesse admitted, and brandished a knife that was covered in blood.

“Where did you get that? Gabriel said you’re not allowed near the weapons how did you get that and whose blood is that Jesse?” She asked. She reached behind her, feeling the form of her blaster on her dresser. She feared the worst, that her judgement really had been clouded after all.

“I’m sorry Doctor Ziegler, I stole it off of Santiago. But please can you help me?” Jesse pleaded.

“Okay okay, slow down, what is the problem?” She asked.

“I couldn’t sleep I had to take it off.” He said, tears forming in his eyes.

“Take what off?” She asked, now even more bewildered at the state of him.

“I-...” Jesse couldn’t meet her eyes, “I couldn’t take it any longer. I had to get rid of it. I had to take his name off. But It won’t stop bleeding.”

“Oh Jesse,” She gasped, pulling her hand off the blaster immediately and taking him by the shoulders, “Oh you had a brand didn’t you? Let me see?”

Jesse turned around and the blood soaked stain in his shirt told Angela exactly what she was looking for. She pulled his collar down and found herself squeamish for the first time in her life.

“Come in and sit down. I have a medical kit, take your shirt off,” She said, holding her door open. Jesse did as he was told and she motioned for him to sit on the bed. Going to her dresser she found what she wanted and came back to crawl up on the bed next to him and work on his back.

“Jesse some of these cuts are a little deep you could have hurt yourself,” She said under her breath, pressing down on the wounds to stop the bleeding.

“I just wanted it gone. I couldn’t stand it, the way they look at me,” He told her, hanging his head. “I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t feel safe I needed it gone. I wanted-” Jesse trailed off as more tears came out, “I wanted to be free of him.”

“It’s okay Jesse, just tell me what happened, okay?” She said, both hands pressing the rag to his back.

“I had a nightmare. It felt like he was still with me, knowing that I ran to Overwatch, that I betrayed Deadlock. I woke up and I couldn’t breathe so I went to Rita’s room and stole her knife, and I just...I just started slashing it. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Okay,” Angela said calmly, “Shhhhh, it’s okay.” She went from kneeling to sitting down cross legged instead, “You should have told me sooner so we could have done it professionally. You could have really done some damage. But thankfully there’s nothing serious. Just a few slashes that should make the name unreadable once they heal into scars, you will hardly be able to tell it was a brand in the first place,” Angela removed the rag and disinfected the wound, “I’m going to stitch this Jesse, can you handle that?”

“Just do it, I’ll be fine.”

Her hands were cold, her left pressed against his back to hold him steady while the other pressed the needle into his skin. He winced in pain.

“I should have known that when you said you felt branded you meant it literally,” She said, “I apologize Jesse, I could have done this for you safely if I had known it was what bothered you.”

“It ain’t your fault,” He replied. He grimaced in pain until she was finished sewing him up and placed the bandage over it.

“Thank you Doc,” He said to her, his voice unsure.

“Of course, but just Angela is fine” She replied, “I want you to stay here for tonight, okay? It’s too late to take you to Medical and I want to keep an eye on you in case you pull a stitch in your sleep. And you shouldn’t have to be alone right now. Is that okay?”

“That would be nice,” He admitted, “Thank you….Angela.”  So he watched as she grabbed some of her spare blankets and a pillow and offered them. She sat him down on the couch and helped him find a comfortable position for his neck before crawling back into her own bed and turning out the light.

“Goodnight Jesse,” She said.

“Night Angela,” He said back.

He barely slept. Angela had long since fallen asleep, her soft snores echoing in the high ceilings, and all Jesse could think about was how scared he was. How alone he felt.

When he finally woke up Angela was gone. There was a small note card that told him she was already at work and that his first order of business was to go see her and let her look at his neck.

When he got to the office, Angela was waiting, working on a crossword puzzle as something was being uploaded to her computer.

“Jesse!” She stood up upon his entrance and came to look at him, “How did you sleep?”

“Fine,” He replied.

“And how is your neck? Does it hurt?” She asked. She went to look at the bandage and Jesse shied away from her.

“Yeah,” He replied.

“Jesse, I just wanted you to know,” She began, “That I don’t judge you. And I never will. You did nothing wrong by coming to me last night. Okay?”

“Thank you for all your help,” He said, “For...For being my first friend here.”

Her face lit up, “Of course! It’s my pleasure. I’m honored that you confide in me, that I get to be your first friend.” She pat him on the shoulder, “Gabriel told me that you could have today off. I told him you were injured but I didn’t tell him how, in case you didn’t want him to know.”

“Thanks for that,” he murmured, looking at the floor as she removed the bandages to look at the wound.

Just then the door opened, it was Jack with a few vials in his arms.

“Angela these are the leftover biotic fields from yesterday’s training,” He said, passing by Jesse as if he were invisible. She thanked him and as Jack noticed Jesse’s slashed neck on his way out, he looked to Angela then back at the younger man.

“What happened?”

“An accident, that’s all,” Angela said.

“What kind?” Jack pressed, “That looks like it hurts-”

“It’s fine,” Jesse said, “Really, don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not evil you know,” Jack said, “If someone did that to you, it’s still not okay-”

“I did it myself alright? It’s fine,” Jesse urged.

Concern colored his face as he made his way to the door.

“Angela, if you need anything-”

“I think I can handle myself, thank you, if you mean what I think you mean. He’s not going to hurt me,” She replied, “Thank you for the delivery, but I’m sure you’re a busy man, you should get back to it.”

Jack, with a defeated sigh, left, the door sliding shut behind him.

“It’s fine, really,” Jesse told her, “I ain’t here to cause no trouble.”

She rolled up the sleeves of her lab coat and set to organizing the vials that Jack had brought in. “I know you’re not, but that doesn’t mean I can’t put him in his place for being rude.”

“You got him around your finger huh?” Jesse asked.

Angela laughed, “Something like that, yes. Him and Reinhardt both. It’s hard to argue with me when I’ve decided what I feel.”

“And what do you feel?” Jesse found himself asking.

She paused her work, staring at the vials before snapping out of it and answering, “I think you’re just here to have a better life, not sabotage us. And you have a gentle soul, I know that much. You wouldn’t hurt me.”

He looked at her in confusion, “You’re sticking up for me that easy?”

Angela looked up and smiled, “The point of Overwatch is to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves after all. And if anyone gives you any more trouble, you tell me. I’ll deal with them myself.” Her mood grew more sombre when she added, “And listen, you don’t have to change yourself in any way just to get them to like you more. You...you don’t have to hurt yourself.”

Jesse looked to the floor, his hand snapping away from his neck where he was holding the tender spot just moments before.

“It wasn’t that so much as it was….needing to be free of it in order to start fresh, you know?”

“I understand what such a burden can do.” She nodded, immediately thinking of Reinhardt and how he was about her parents’ deaths, “Can I ask you something then?”

“Shoot.”

“I’m just...curious. Why were you in Deadlock? Who did this to you?”

Jesse thought for a moment and answered, “I didn’t really have a choice. I had to survive and if it wasn’t with them, then it was against them, and I wanted their protection.”

She took notice of him not even acknowledging the second question and instead asked, “What about your family?” She asked, “Where are they?”

“Dead. Like yours,” Jesse said.

“How did they-” Angela stopped herself, “I’m sorry, I’m prying. You don’t have to-”

“It was a house fire when I was twelve,” Jesse answered without another word.

“I’m sorry.” Angela said going back to putting fresh ointment on his neck, “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Don’t be. It doesn’t upset me anymore like it used to.” Jesse assured her, “I can talk about it. It’s been almost a decade and I think I’m ready.”

“What were they like?” Angela was slow to ask, like testing the waters in a pool where she didn’t know if the result would be scalding hot.

“From what I remember they were great. We had a farm, loads of horses. I was friends with this one, she liked to follow me around the barn while I fed all the other animals. The house was big and old, but in top condition. It was my great great grandmother’s place. It was all my parents had after the crisis, it was left to them so they didn’t have to worry about money, but there were bills and of course kids and animals. It wasn’t so great for them but they managed to make everyday worth living for us kids at least.”

Angela was enamored with the story, listening quietly and patiently, trying to imagine what his house in New Mexico might look like and she was picturing just a big wooden house in the middle of a desert with cacti and tumbleweeds, the works.

Jesse continued, “I remember...sitting in my Pa’s lap I think, and he pulled out these ancient things, dvds, and played cowboy movies for me ‘cause that’s all my great great granny had for entertainment in those days.” Jesse smiled, then laughed out, “He told me about how all of them were bullshit too. The real cowboys were like us, the vaqueros, herding cattle between Mexico and the south. My Pa was from Mexico City, he made sure I always knew where I came from even though I was living in the States. He was on a vacation to the US where he met my mom and decided to stay. Then the crisis started and of course with all the border lockdowns he got trapped, but he didn’t mind it much. He thought New Mexico was the bee’s knees, don’t know why, but he did. The one thing I never understood was why he never taught us how to speak spanish, he barely used it himself, I always hoped one day I would get to an age where he’d sit me down and tell me he would teach me, but then well, he died.”

“Did you ever learn?” Angela asked.

“Well, learn is a bit of an overstatement. Gabriel’s gonna try and teach me as a part of my school stuff I have to do, but I wasn’t too great at it in Deadlock I doubt I’ll catch on now,” Jesse huffed.

“Languages are harder later in life,” Angela agreed, “Did you have anyone else besides your mother and father? Siblings?”

“Yeah,” Jesse said, “I had a couple brothers I think. You’ll have to forgive me, I don’t remember much of anything before being twelve, I hit my head pretty hard when the house came down. But I know for sure there was one.”

“Yeah?” Angela asked.

“Yeah, my sister. Sadie.”

Her face lit up, “Sadie, what a pretty name.”

“Yeah, she was a good girl. She died but...I don’t know how…” He replied, “It wasn’t in the fire. I used to visit her at her orphanage. They didn’t know I was alive see so I was never caught by social workers or anything like that. I gave her money, she was saving up for a new bicycle. Then she died. Nobody would tell me anything.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that, I hope one day you find the answers,” Angela said. He shrugged.

“What about you Angel? Lovely Doctor like you doing in a place like this?”

“Hm, my family is dead too like you said. It was six years ago, the omnics,” She told him, “It was the day Reinhardt came to recruit me actually. He saved my life. But my parents and my elder sister Lara were killed.”

“I bet you miss them a lot,” Jesse said.

Angela nodded. “I do, my sister especially, just like you. But Reinhardt, he’s like a father. So is Torbjorn. He and his wife Ingrid let me stay with them and their daughter Brigette in Zurich. They’re good people. And Jack and Gabriel are the uncles I never had.”

Jesse looked away. “You found a new family.”

“I did. And, if you want, you can join us. We’d love to have you,” Angela offered, “There’s always room for more.”

“Thank you, Angela,” He said solemnly.

It took her awhile before she realized that she had been done fixing him up for a while now, and in a small attempt at an apology, she changed the subject. “You slept for quite a while, I think you needed it. It’s already four in the afternoon you know.”

“Holy shit, really?” He asked, looking at her digital clock which read 4:23.

“Yes, and I think you need a nice rest today, so go do so. I’ll check on you when I’m done here, okay? I think Gabriel is waiting for you outside, I heard Jack speaking to someone a moment ago.”

“Okay, thanks again,” Jesse replied, letting himself out of the office. She gave a small wave before he closed the door behind him. As he turned back around to face the hallway, he was expecting Commander Reyes to be waiting for him, staring grimly with his arms crossed as usual. Instead, he was met with no one, until he looked down. Standing right in front of him was a little girl, couldn’t be any older than 12. Her hair was black and looked silky, her bangs perfectly cut, and parts were braided, tied off with gold beads.

“Hello?” Jesse said. “You lost?”

She looked unimpressed with him, and sighed with disinterest, “Gabe is stuck in a meeting. He told me to come get you. He seems to think you and I will get along but I doubt it. Teenagers are gross.”

“Uhhh, and who are you?” Jesse asked.

“I’m Fareeha Amari, I’m gonna be the best agent Overwatch has ever seen, so don’t you go thinking you have a chance. Gabriel said you’re from a dangerous gang. More like a movie set, you look more like a cowboy than a gang member. And your hat is stupid.”

“Hey!” Jesse protested, “Now I ain’t said nothin’ bout your ancient egypt gettup you little mummy, why you gotta slam my hat!”

With a roll of her eyes and a huff, she handed Jesse a blindfold.

“What’s this?”

“He told me you had to wear it,” She shrugged. He did as she wanted and put it on, letting her pull him along. She was guiding him into the dining room, he assumed, by the smell of something delicious. She poked him in the stomach, the cue for the blindfold to come off.

“Surprise!” A small group chimed. Jesse blinked, the sight of Ana and Gabriel on either side of a dinner table with food laid out coming into view. Rita came in from another room with thick oven mitts to support a casserole dish.

“What’s all this?” he asked, staring at the dishes, and taking notice of all the empty chairs around. He wondered where the other agents were, and why they weren’t all scrambling for the chance to eat.

“It’s fajitas,” Ana said, “We weren’t sure what your taste preferences were, so I held off on making anything too exciting, Gabriel figured he’d start with something you were probably familiar with. I did make baklava for dessert if you’d like to try it.”

“This is for me?” Jesse asked, “Where’s everyone else?”

Ana and Gabriel exchanged looks before Rita explained, “They’re all off with their own dinner plans, this is for you. To welcome you.”

“I can’t,” Jesse said, “This can’t be for me, I don’t wanna be taking this from anybody, surely there’s more people that need dinner, right?”

“We’re here, we’ll eat with you, if that’s what you mean,” Fareeha said, “If you’re lonely.”

“No no little darlin’, I mean this is meat and veggies and stuff, don’t Jack and Gabriel and the likes of them get this? You don’t have to give it to me just ‘cause I’m new.”

Gabriel cleared his throat, “Jesse.”

“Yessir?”

“This ain’t Deadlock son,” He reminded him, “You’re with a UN certified organization, we have fridges full to the brim here. No one goes hungry. Ever. You’re not taking dinner away from anyone, or hoarding it. We have plenty for everyone. Always.”

Jesse took a second to process, “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel said, pulling a chair out for him to sit, which he did readily, “You don’t have to ask, or worry. If you’re hungry, go to the kitchen and I’m sure someone will help you find something to eat. I understand it’ll take some time.”

“And you could use the weight,” Ana said, “And a few pounds extra never hurt either.”

Jesse stared at the plate in front of him while the others took seats. He could feel them all waiting for him to start, but he couldn’t bring himself to lift up his plate to take anything.

“Would it help if I did it for you?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah,” Jesse replied, handing him his plate, “I’d probably take too little.”

“And don’t feel bad if you can’t eat it all,” Rita told him, helping Gabriel pile food onto the plate, “We can always save it for later, you don’t have to worry about when you’ll get another chance to eat.”

“Okay.”

Fareeha, who had mostly been quiet, spoke up, “Why do you have to tell him all that? Doesn’t he understand what food is?”

“Fareeha,” Ana scolded.

Jesse however, looked up from staring at his place setting, took one look at Fareeha, and bursted with laughter.

Ana sat back in confusion, Gabriel doing the same, while Jesse laughed and laughed.

“Ain’t never heard a kid be so blunt like that,” he told them, “It’s funny, honest, don’t be mad at her.”

“What?” Fareeha asked, amidst looks from Ana and Gabriel..

Jesse leaned over, smiling, “Where I come from little darlin’ we gotta eat like we’re dying cause food ain’t too easy to come by, that’s all. I ain’t used to big meals or sharing. It’s everyone for themselves, you see.”

“Oh,” Fareeha replied, watching as her mother set a plate in front of Jesse. “So Mom and Gabe have to teach you how to eat like us?”

“Exactly,” Jesse said, ruffling her hair.

Just then, the door was opened and in came the flustered young doctor, her hair and glasses both messy, and a large box in her hands.

“You would not believe what it took to get here,” Angela told them, “I had to run. As soon as Jesse left I scrambled downstairs to grab it and come back but on my way someone comes running at me with a dislocated shoulder I had to fix and I nearly dropped it.”

“Dropped what?” Jesse asked, looking at the box in confusion.

Angela set the box in front of him and he opened it to reveal a large, elegantly decorated cake. In big red letters was “WELCOME JESSE!” on the top, with several little decorative flowers.

“It’s wonderful,” He said, admiring it, “Wow I- Thank you. Thank you guys so much.”

“Reinhardt made it,” Angela said, “But I had to do the icing. His hands are too big.”

“I love it,” Jesse told her.

Ana passed her a plate, “Sit down Angela and eat you’ve had a long day.”

She obliged, taking the seat next to Jesse, in between him and Fareeha.

“Am I too late?” Came another voice from the doorway all of a sudden, where Jack Morrison was standing.

Gabriel stood quickly, clearly caught off guard.

“Oh- Jack- Uh-”

“Fareeha told me there was some sort of party?” Jack said, looking around the table.

“To celebrate Jesse joining Blackwatch,” Ana told him, “You’re welcome to sit and eat with us Jack, we figured you’d be busy-”

“I was- but I thought I’d- well…” He looked to Jesse, then the door. The younger man could clearly see the embarrassment on his face.

“Stay,” Jesse told him, “They made a lot of food I don’t think I could eat it all anyways.”

Jack nodded, taking the seat next to Fareeha.

“Well,” Gabriel started, looking around the table, “Here’s to Jesse on his first day of training.”

Everyone raised their glasses, tilting them towards Jesse and said “Cheers!” and took a drink.

“And to many more days with us,” Ana smiled.

“Y’all are so nice this is too much,” Jesse said, staring at his big plate of food.

“Eat up kid, you got a lot of eating and a lot of training to do before we send you out on your first mission,” Gabriel said, “You turn eighteen in five months after all.”

“I gotta wait till then?” Jesse asked. "But wait, you let Angela go on missions, she said we're the same age."

Angela paused drinking to mention, "Well technically no, I only get to go because I'm a medic, I'm not allowed away from the drop ship. I've never been on the field in a real mission, they just bring me sometimes for clean up. I'm still training."

Ana chuckled, “You’d be daft to think we’d let minors go out onto battlefields young man. If you’re lucky, maybe you can catch up to her in time so you can both go on your first mission together.”

“When do you turn eighteen?” Jesse asked her, pausing his consumption of his salad.

“This August, actually,” Angela replied.

“Damn, a whole three months ahead of me,” Jesse smiled, “Well, I’ll do my best to catch up.”

“I have faith in you, I still have combat training to complete,” She told him, “I’ve mostly been doing my medical work, but I guess I can’t put off the physical stuff anymore.”

The food was delicious and everything had gone without a single hitch, the night played on and Jesse found himself opening up to them more, telling them stories about some of his high speed chases, leaving certain details out for Fareeha, but keeping it interesting enough for the girl to be mystified by her new friend. Rita and Gabriel were throwing out Blackwatch tales and Ana especially had a lot to say about all the times she’d saved them in a pinch.

“Little one here told me she was gonna be the best Overwatch agent there ever was,” Jesse mentioned at one point. The little girl frowned at him, stabbing a piece of steak and eating it angrily.

Ana exchanged a look with Gabriel and explained, “Well, Fareeha has a very active imagination, she thinks she will but in truth, there is so much more she’s capable of.”

Jesse nodded, and looked to the girl next to him, who almost looked like she wanted to cry.

“Well I think she’d be great at bossing someone around. That’s Strike Commander material right there.” Her little face lit up and Ana sighed but let it go. Gabriel and Jack even gave a laugh.

As they finished up, Jesse made a move to start the dishes but Gabriel stopped him, instead taking the stack and going to do them himself with Rita sliced up cake. Jesse instead sat back down and started up a conversation with Fareeha, while Ana and Angela slipped out for a moment.

“I wanted to thank you Ana, for all of this,” The younger woman smiled, “He needed it. I know he did.”

“Oh Darling, of course,” Ana wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her tight, “You care so much about everyone, it was good of you to suggest this. Gabriel said he was having a hard time fitting in. I think knowing someone his own age is a real help.”

“You think so?” Angela replied.

“I know so Dear, and he likes you a lot, I can see it. You two are going to be thick as thieves, especially with my daughter added into the mix. Fareeha begged me to meet the new cowboy man Gabriel has been talking about. I was unsure if he should be around her but I think after tonight I’m a little more at ease.”

“If only Jack thought the same,” Angela muttered.

“Now Angela is that fair?” Ana asked her, “Jack is just trying to make sure everyone in the family is safe. The boy’s still a gang member, so it’s wise to not trust him as much. Jack and everyone else will warm up as long as he stays in line like he has been. Tonight is proof enough that he’s already starting to change his mind.”

“Yeah, you’re right, as usual. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think to protect myself last night anyways...” Angela said, “I don’t know why, but I still think he’s a good person, regardless.”

Ana nodded, patting her shoulder, “Angela, believe me, we’re all rooting for him to make it through this and come out as an excellent agent, but we must always have vigilance in case we’re wrong.”

The door to the dining room opened and there was Jack.

“Are you two having cake?” He asked.

Ana led Angela back inside, but paused to tell her, “We’ll just have to see how it plays out.”

 


	6. Seduction of the Gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks in this chapter to everyone who sent me lovely Get Well messages! I know this chapter is pretty late but it's because I got the flu, and having asthma it sent me to the ER twice in one month, and I also started a new job! Thank you to everyone who stuck with me and a special thanks to the Sweet McMercy Discord who helped me keep my head up while struggling to finish this new chapter!

  
  


“Get up sleepy head,” Gabriel said yanking his blankets off his bed.

“What? Man it’s Sunday, you said I didn’t have to train weekends,” Jesse complained.

“Yes, but Sunday is one of the few days that Angela isn’t swarmed with patients, so get your ass out of bed because we’re doing the range today and I don't want to be late.”

“But I already know how to shoot things,” Jesse argued, pulling the pillow over his head, “Twenty more minutes.”

“But Angela doesn’t, so up. Now. You can help Ana teach her, I don’t care, but you gotta get through her basic training before Ana will help your aim.”

“Fiiiiiiine,” Jesse groaned, sitting up. He dressed himself and followed Gabriel begrudgingly. When he led Jesse outside to a waiting car, the young man was confused. 

"I thought we were going to the range?" Jesse asked. 

"Oh, that's not for another two hours," Gabriel told him. Seeing the irritated and outraged look on his companion's face, Gabriel chuckled, "You and I have to go shopping first." 

"Shopping?" Jesse asked. 

"Not going to lie, those clothes you came in with don't fit you, and you can't exactly live in your uniform. So I'm going to get you some new clothes." 

"Are you serious?" 

"Is there a reason I wouldn't be?" 

"I mean..." 

"Jesse," Gabriel said in a tone that had now become a habit between them. It was Gabe's "You're not in Deadlock anymore and not all of us are assholes" voice. 

The two of them got into the unmarked car and headed into the city. Gabriel had a list of all the stores in Zurich that were popular with young men that he'd pulled off the internet, and Jesse had never been so excited to go shopping before. And he was surprised at how many deals Gabriel was able to snag just for being Overwatch. He guessed saving the world comes with some perks. Jesse made out with at least four new outfits and two pairs of shoes that he vowed to Gabriel he would wear and take care of. 

When they returned from their outing, Gabriel had him put his bags back in his room and Jesse all but skipped down to the shooting range where Angela was already waiting by Ana’s side.

“Cowboy’s here,” Gabriel announced, pushing Jesse forward.

“Excellent, we can start then. Jesse, this is for you,” Ana said, holding out a gun for him. It was an automatic, and noticing the expression on his face she sighed and added, “We’re just doing maintenance on your six shooter, you’ll get it back by the time you’re fit for active duty, don’t pout.”

Jesse relented and noticed Angela cautiously holding her weapon, her safety glasses firm on her head.

“You ever shot something before?” He asked her, only to see her clam up and shake her head.

“Never.”

“It’s easy really, just point and-”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself Jesse, let’s give her the basics,” Ana interrupted, “Now Angela the most important rule of holding a weapon is never aiming it at something you don’t intend to shoot, alright?”

“Yes Ma’am,” She replied.

“Your standard issue weapon as a field medic is the blaster you’re holding, state of the art, no need for a clip. You run out? Simply let it reload on it’s own,” Ana told her.

“Okay, that sounds simple,” She said.

“It goes for twenty rounds, five per second, with a two second reload. It’s not the most powerful of weapons, but it will get the job done if you find yourself without protection. We will always be covering you, but mistakes, accidents, they happen. We’re only human after all. We just want you to feel comfortable using it in case you have to,” Ana explained.

“It’s a gun, I will never feel comfortable using it,” Angela frowned.

“Well we need you alive, and letting an enemy shoot you simply because you don’t want to shoot him first isn’t going to cut it Angela,” Gabriel said, “If you’re faced with an enemy and one of us isn’t there to protect you, it’s up to you to protect yourself.”

“No, I understand,” Angela replied, “It doesn’t mean I like it.”

“Trust me, you’ll get used to it,” Jesse told her, “It’s easy, really. Ana, may I?”

“Go for it. Show me what you got.”

“Put these on,” Jesse told the doctor, holding out the ear muffs. He donned his own, as did Ana and Gabriel, and then took up his gun. He looked to Angela as he aimed down the range at one of the stationary target bots.

“Now, when you shoot, you gotta be focused, just pulling the trigger and hoping for the best ain’t gonna do it. Your enemy should be in front of you, and being new to this, obviously hold the gun with your dominant hand, and to keep your aim steady, hold the bottom of the gun with your left.”

Jesse demonstrated and Angela nodded, copying him, holding her blaster the same way. Jesse set his gun down and moved in. 

“Now, this blaster is going to have a recoil every time you fire,” He said, nudging her right thumb, “You can’t have this in the way, because it will recoil into your thumb and tear your skin. Not too bad, but it won’t feel pleasant.”

“Oh, okay,” She said, adjusting her hand.

“Perfect! Now, you take your safety off-” Jesse searched the weapon for it but Ana stepped in.

“Angela’s weapon is actually fitted with a grip safety,” Ana said, “It only fires when her hand is in the shooting position, and like all Overwatch issued weapons, it fires for her only. The hand scanner on the grip knows who can and cannot shoot the weapon. It will jam for anyone else.”

“Fancy bastards,” Jesse said under his breath, “Well in any case, you gotta be holding the grip like you mean it if you really need to shoot someone. Your hand is gonna be sore but not as much the more you use it. Which hopefully, is very rare. Now watch.”

Jesse picked up his handgun and pointed it towards the target. He fired three rounds at the bot, all with impeccable aim, dismantling it easy.

“Now you Dear,” Ana instructed.

Angela nodded, taking up the blaster. She fired a round at the target next to Jesse’s, completely missing it.

“Y’aint gonna hit it precisely with only one shot using that thing, you’re not Ana” Jesse told her, “Fire off more at a time, you’ll be more likely to hit it and incapacitate it if you’re able to adjust your aim based off of where your previous shots hit. Understand?”

“I think so,” Angela replied. She fired off several, each one getting closer until she finally hit the bot in the head, causing it to wobble a little.

“There ya go!” Jesse smiled, “Great job!”

“You think so?”

“Angela you’ve been holding the gun for three minutes,” Ana reminded her, “Progress is progress.”

Angela nodded, and Jesse put his hands on his hips, “Too bad you can’t see me with Peacekeeper, I’d put all these automatics to shame.”

Angela kept shooting alongside Jesse as they switched to moving targets.

“Gotta be quicker than that-” Jesse said, taking out his targets and Angela’s next to them.

“No fair!” She said, bumping shoulders with him as she took her gun up again, firing at the robots that had reformed and missing every single one.

“You gotta keep your arm straight-” Jesse said, putting his gun down and moving in, taking her arms and pulling them into the right places, “And widen your stance a little so you keep your balance, left foot forward, that’s it, and your shoulders can’t be up by your ears.” He pushed them down, “Loosen up a little, but hold on to the gun tight, the kick back’ll be a nightmare if you don’t.”

Ana gave Gabriel a coy smile the second she saw the blush on Angela’s face as Jesse repositioned her to be in the best stance for shooting. Gabriel raised his eyebrows in amusement at the innocence of it all. That’s when Jack and a few other members of Overwatch came down to the range in their workout wear and Jesse immediately dropped his hands and went back to his own gun. Jack threw Gabriel a spare bottle of water as he approached, taking notice of Angela and Jesse and the holes in the robots beyond them.

“You all look like you could use a good training exercise,” Ana teased, watching as Reinhardt tied his hair back. Angela was surprised to see her friend back from Poland so soon, she immediately jumped into his large arms while Jesse watched, amused.

“We could,” Jack answered, “What do you have in mind?”

Ana looked around at the twelve agents and shrugged, “We could run anything really. Search and Rescue, Capture the Flag, Deathmatch?”

As they fired up Athena’s training system, Jesse looked around at all of their faces, the people who believed in him, and he felt hopeful for the first time since he started.

“Jesse, since it’s still your day off, how about you go enjoy it?” Gabriel asked.

“But what about the training exercise?”

“There’ll be other days. Besides, the two of you aren’t quite ready to rumble with us elders just yet. It’s a lot, trust me.”

Ana overheard and called, “Angela has to stay and work on her aim, don’t you go sneaking off with her Jesse!”

The medic sighed and picked up her gun.

Jesse elbowed her as the group of commanders went to their simulation.

“Don’t worry, I ain’t leavin’,” He told her, picking up his own gun, “There ain’t really much to do around here by yourself anyways. I’ll stay and help you.”

“Thank you Jesse,” She smiled back, taking up her stance.

They shot for a while, the cycle of moving targets gradually going down more at a time as they practiced. Angela eventually took a short break to use the restroom and when she came back, Jesse was standing there, observing the weapon in his hand with curiosity.

“So...is it because of, y’know, being a doctor?” he asked, “That you don’t like guns? Do no harm and what not?”

Angela sighed, putting her goggles back on.

“No. Of course as a doctor I would never want to hurt anyone...but it’s more than that I think. I have seen too much violence. The guns used by omnics are what killed my family, the guns used by Overwatch are what ended the war, and with it, countless omnic and human lives combined. They knew the foot soldiers were under the control of the omnium, and they slaughtered them all anyways. We ended the crisis at a tremendous cost.”

“Well...It’s hard to come to an agreement when your enemy refuses to talk, or even consider lowering their weapons. Sometimes it’s just what has to be done,” Jesse replied, “I know it’s how my parents defended themselves in Santa Fe. The nearest omnium was San Joaquin, but that didn’t mean we didn’t get stragglers. In the end, they needed any chance they got. It’s how I know how to use a six shooter, they taught me as soon as they could. Thankfully Overwatch came in and made sure I never had to fight, but then Deadlock replaced the Omnics and the whole fight started over again. I don’t like killin’, but I don’t like being unarmed when there’s trouble either.”

“I know their necessity, Jesse,” Angela said, “I know that violence saves lives, but it ends them too...I would much rather someone else handled the shooting rather than me.”

“You do what you gotta do to survive,” Jesse answered, “You’d let someone shoot you?”

“I already have,” Angela crossed her arms and turned away, looking at the sea of targets down the range. The breath she let out was heavy and sorrowful, and she needed to gather all her courage to speak again, “When I was training to become a field medic, I did some work with emergency services. I was the first responder on a particular case. A neighbor had sent out a call about an armed man firing off shots next door. The police of course responded, and when I got there it had been determined that the man had left. So I went in to tend to the wounded. It was an American soldier, he had a difficult moment of ptsd in his sleep and retrieved his weapon, murdering his wife. She was dead in their bedroom when I got there. His son was in the living room, scared, crying. I checked him for injury and tried to console him, but it was clear that there was more wrong than I had believed. The soldier had never actually left. He attacked us, and clear as day I remember the frightened look in his eye as he tried to shoot his son. I got between them, and he hit me instead.”

Angela pulled down the corner of her shirt. There, plain as day, was a round scar from a bullet that had long since healed. It created a small divot in her skin that was off color, and rugged. Jesse looked at it in amazement, immediately recognizing it as a gunshot scar similar to the one he had in nearly the same place.

“I was kneeling in front of the child. As the police came in from the other room and shot the man dead where he stood, I realized that I was hit. I did the first thing I could think of, and checked on the boy. The bullet had gone through my shoulder and hit him. I had to perform an emergency surgery, bleeding from my own wounds, to save that child’s life. I don’t know if I saved him or not. The next day Reinhardt took me back to Overwatch to recover. And after I was well again, I didn’t have the heart to ask. I didn’t want to find out that I’d lost him, I was too scared.”

Jesse leaned up against the wall next to her, leaning slightly to look at her face as she stared at the tiled floor.

“Angela I’m sorry,” He held out his hand and she took it readily, “Jesus you had to be what? 15?”

She nodded. “I was never more scared...not even when my parents were murdered. He stared right at me and fired, Jesse, on me, and on his own child. Just…what would bring a human being to do something like that? Everyone in this organization has had to murder other people, I see what it does to Ana, to Jack and Gabriel, what it did to that man.They lose a part of themselves every time, whether they want to admit it or not. I don’t want to lose myself like that. I couldn’t bear it. I became a doctor to help others, to heal them, not kill. No matter who is on the other side. And...I would never let anything happen to any of you. I just...I don’t know if I can do it. If I can bring myself to pull a trigger on someone else. For someone to be on their knees, looking at me the way I looked at that man. To have the same insidious bloodlust in my eyes for the world to see.”

Jesse came in and hugged her, it was sudden, but Angela accepted it readily. He didn’t really know what to say, but he felt like even this small embrace eased her mind if only by just a little. He could feel the weight of the world on her shoulders just by being close to her, and he wasn’t about to let it crush her. She was his only friend after all.

“I know how you feel,” Jesse replied, “I used to be the same. The first time I shot a person...I couldn’t handle it. I was shaking from head to toe. But instead of horror, it was received with a pat on the back and a ‘good job’. I had know idea how they managed to be so heartless about it...taking someone else’s entire life away from ‘em. But Richter beat that out of me pretty quick. And then I understood. You have to let yourself go. Become emotionless when you’re on the job. I had to kill innocent people. Good people. Some of ‘em I knew, some of ‘em I didn’t but I remember them all. I remember that look, the one you’re talkin’ about. It’s terrible, I can’t lie. I think you’re really strong, you know? For doing what I couldn’t. Saying no to it.”

Angela shook her head, “Jesse, you couldn’t say no. You didn’t have a choice like I do.”

“I should have let them kill me before I hurt anybody,” He sniffled, “After Sadie, I had nothing anyways.”

“But look where you are now,” Angela said to him, “You’re with Overwatch. You’re going to make a world of difference Jesse, you’re going to do good. Help people. And you’re going to help Gabriel dismantle Deadlock for good, so no child has to suffer that fate again.”

He wiped his eyes, “Yeah. We uh, kinda got off track didn’t we? You want to go for some more moving targets?”

Angela nodded and took up her blaster again.

Jesse watched her for a few moments before adding.

“You know Angela?”

“Hmm?”

“As long as we’re workin’ together, I’m gonna have your back out there, okay?”

“And I’ll have yours, Jesse.”

 

A few weeks later and they were finally ready to start running training programs with the older agents. Gabriel had put himself, Jesse, and Ana on a team while Jack had Angela and Reinhardt. 

It was a disaster. 

"McCree! Watch your flank or else I'm going to shoot you in the side!" Jack called as he ran up. 

"Shit!" Jesse said, ducking out of the way. 

"Angela, keep steady on that healing," Reinhardt directed. 

"Yessir!" She said, boosting Jack as they ran towards Team Gabriel. 

Reinhardt and Jack split apart and Jesse was faced with a decision. Both teams only needed one more kill to win. Gabriel and Ana were handling Reinhardt and Angela and Jack was sneaking up like he said he would. Jesse figured that it'd take two shots for Athena to register it as a kill. He shot once, and all of a sudden the room filled with light. Angela was flying. Literally. Jesse was mesmerized as she flew from Reinhardt over to Jack in one swoop, connecting her healing beam to the Commander, and Jesse could see his health on his vest display rising. As her wings went back into her suit, Jesse stood there with his jaw open. 

That's when Jack shot. 

"Strike Commander Morrison's team wins," Athena announced, "20 to 19." 

"It was a good try Jesse," Gabriel said, patting him on the back. 

"What on earth are those?" Jesse ignored Gabriel in favor of pointing at Angela's wings. 

"This is the Valkyrie Swift Response suit!" She beamed, "I built it, with Torbjorn's help of course! It allows me to-" 

"Fly," Jesse interrupted. 

"Not necessarily, It's more of a glide?" She offered, "It helps me get to my targets quicker." 

"Amazing," Jesse told her, "I knew you were a doctor but not an engineer too, shit. You're so smart." 

"Thank you Jesse," She said, pushing a bit of hair out of her face. 

Jack frowned. As Angela went to Ana and Gabriel, Jack made his move and put a strong hand on Jesse's shoulder. 

"You watch where your eyes wander when you’re on a real mission, got it? Or else you’ll get shot for real. Go to the showers, you're done here." 

"Yessir," Jesse squeaked out, gathering his hat and sprinting out of the training room, drawing everyone's attention to the slamming door.

“Jesse?” Angela asked, following him out, curious as to what happened. 

Ana watched her leave, un-clipping her vest as the other agents left the training field.

"You don't have to go so hard on him Jack," She muttered to the commander next to her.

“I don’t try to be, he and Angela have been getting pretty close lately that’s all,” Jack commented, inspecting his practice rifle before putting it back in it's place. Ana doing the same after she had finished untying her hair.

“So you have to intimidate him? He’s young Jack, it’s good for Angela to have someone her age to talk to. How would you feel if you were forced to only listen to a bunch of old timers all day?”

“She has Fareeha,” Jack attempted.

The look Ana shot him could only be described as disappointed.

“Fareeha hasn’t even started puberty Jack, that’s like hanging out with an infant to a teenager. She doesn’t have the same mental development as Angela yet. If anything my daughter is probably an annoyance. And you’re not her father,” Ana reminded him.

“I’m not trying to be either.” Jack protested, “Angela just doesn't have the experience we do, she's more vulnerable. I just want to make sure that someone is at least ready in case things go south, and I know it makes me look like the bad guy but-”

Gabriel stepped in, leaning against the wall and said, “You’re trying to do your job as Strike Commander, we understand, someone always has to be wary. But this kid’s seen more abuse in his life than kindness, isn’t that enough to warrant even a little leniency Jack?”

“He is just a baby,” Reinhardt commented, holding a large foam hammer on his shoulder, “And kindness goes a long way. If we reject him now, who knows what opinions will form as he grows? He may see our hatred and turn right back around to Deadlock if he thinks we are too unforgiving.”

“You’re right,” Jack acknowledge with a nod, “I just...I don’t know-” 

Gabriel clapped him on the shoulder, “We all love her, and every one of us wants to protect Angela like we want to protect Fareeha, and Brigitte, but she’s also an adult, Jack. She can make her own decisions. Family is the most important thing to us all, and if we want Jesse to be a part of it, then we need to accept him the way he is. He’s been abused, you know that. He spent years in that situation, clinging on to a sliver of hope that one day he’d leave. We were the only ones who gave him that chance to be better. Don't ruin it for him before he even begins.”

Jack nodded, looking contemplative at the floor. “When I went to see Angela the other day, he had a bandage around his neck, and he still has it, what happened?”

“He had a brand there Jack, and Angela wouldn't tell me what happened but I can only assume the worst," Gabriel said, "Those bastards at Deadlock tortured him. I'm not asking you to not be wary, we all are, we've all threatened him. But we did it at the very beginning. We drew the line in the sand and he hasn't crossed it after six months. It's like you've already decided that he's failed when he hasn't. He's doing quite the opposite actually.

“That man owned him, Jack, murdered his family,” Ana said, “He needs adults worthy of him to look up to now. Real heroes. People who won’t hurt him.”

“Okay,” Jack said, “I’ll try to go a little lighter.”

“Sounds good,” Gabriel said. 

It was midday, only a few weeks before Jesse’s final examinations and physicals were due so that he could go on his first mission. He stood in front of Jack Morrison’s office with a silent determination, but also with that twinge of anxiety deep in his chest. He knocked once, then twice, and finally the door was answered by the man himself, standing tall, looking blonde and handsome as always. How Gabriel let a good looking guy like Jack go, Jesse would never understand. Although, how did he know it wasn’t the other way around? One day maybe he could get those answers out of his mentor, but today wasn’t the day. 

“McCree, can I help you?” Jack asked, balancing his pen on his clipboard, holding the door open with his foot. 

“Yeah um, I was kind of wondering if you could talk? Sir?” Jesse asked, making sure his posture was perfect, holding his hands at his sides.  

“Is it important?” Jack asked, looking down on him from nearly six inches higher. 

“Kind of, but I mean, if you’re busy I can leave,” Jesse said. 

Jack looked back inside his office, and knowing that he wasn’t actually that busy, invited Jesse inside. He offered him a chair and sat down behind his desk, pushing his paperwork to the side and neatly folding his hands on the table top. 

“What do you need to talk about?” Jack asked. 

Jesse removed his hat and placed it in his lap carefully, before running a hand through his messy hair and clearing his throat.    
“It’s um, about the other day,” Jesse explained, “I wanted to apologize.” 

“Apologize?” Jack had to admit he was confused, having put the last few weeks out of his mind entirely, “Jesse it was just a misunderstanding, really, I didn’t mean to be so forceful. I think I owe you the apology.” 

“I’m just sorry if I’m overstepping my boundaries,” Jesse scrambled, “Gabriel is great, you know, he’s awesome, but I know he doesn’t take my….background... as seriously as you do, and well, I’m sorry if I’m getting too close to Angela...I thought I was free to make friends I didn’t realize you- I mean- She-” 

Jack’s brow furrowed in concentration, and he sighed, “I know I’ve been hard on you Jesse, and I’m sorry, but you have to understand that my job as Strike Commander is...well to have to be that ‘bad guy’ sometimes. And I wasn’t sure on whether or not I could trust you. I think Gabriel was rushing into things letting you join Blackwatch. To tell you the truth, I won’t know if I can trust you until you actually go out there and show me what you’re made of, but that being said....I’m going to tell you a story, alright?” 

“Yessir,” Jesse said, leaning forward in his chair, attentive. 

“When I joined the United States Military I was just about your age, Gabriel and I had joined up at the same time, we were on the same base together. When we started, he hated my guts, naturally. It was kind of a culture shock for the both of us. But we got over it, and obviously that has led to a lasting friendship,” Jack picked up one of the framed photographs on his desk and slid it towards Jesse, revealing two young clean shaven men in their military uniforms. 

“We both got chosen for the Soldier Enhancement Program, and they put us through things that no human being should ever have to experience. We were experimented on, tortured in some cases, to ‘test our limits’, they said. But we dealt with it, because we knew what needed to be done and we both had people who depended on us, who we needed to protect. Gabriel and I were part of the very, very, small group that survived. Nothing could have prepared us for what we did. They had told us the risks, told us what we were getting ourselves into, and they told us what to expect, but nothing they could have said would have made the job any easier. I remember my first warzone after that nightmare. I could barely move. I was scared beyond belief because by then, it was real. All of it, the war, my part in it. The whole country, hell, the world, depended on me, and I had to prove that I could do it. Gabriel was the original strike commander of Overwatch, did he ever tell you?” 

Jesse shook his head. 

“When we first started, it was a necessity that we take bold strokes, big risks, do whatever it took to take down our enemies, and Gabriel was the man for the job. We did awful things to win that war. We made sacrifices that will live with me for the rest of our lives. And we had to be careful. The slightest misstep, one single misplaced trust, and we could have all died in that war. Even now, Talon is working against us with everything they have, and I know for sure they have tricks up their sleeves that we haven’t seen yet. And so do a lot of other powers in the world. So believe me when I say it’s just my job.”

“I understand,” Jesse said, “Keeping everyone safe is most important.”

“Exactly,” Jack said.

“Can you um, can you tell me what it’ll be like?” Jesse asked, “Going out there for real? My first mission is pretty soon and I’m not gonna lie or anything….I’m pretty scared. I never was in Deadlock, and I’m no stranger to killing people, or risking my life, but this time is different. I’m actually nervous.”

Jack’s face melted into something more sympathetic. “When you go out there for the first time Jesse, there is no advice I can give you. No matter what I say, you’ll forget every word of it as soon as you hear that first gunshot. But if you’re as talented as Gabriel says you are, I think I have faith that you can do what it takes to win the fight.

I think you’re scared now because….because maybe you’ve found something to live for here with us. Is that right?”

“Yeah, yeah I think so,” Jesse replied, rubbing his hands anxiously, “I guess it’s cause I never really had this kind of family. I lost a lot of my memories after the fire. I was a lot younger when I joined Deadlock, because my family got killed,” he explained, “My little sister was the only one who lived, and she got put in an orphanage. Deadlock practically kidnapped me, so they all thought I was dead too. I...I went through a lot of stuff. I mean, being able to do whatever I wanted was cool but...what you said about the torture, how it changes you, what you have to do to keep the peace, to keep the people you love safe. I know how that feels, every single word you said. My….former boss, you could say. He branded me. He would do whatever he wanted to me for sport, most of the time, to show off to the other guys. That’s what you saw when I was with Angela that day. I cut his brand off my neck, because I couldn’t sleep at night knowing what all of you think of me, that you think I’m like him. That I wanted to be there, that I wanted to hurt people. That’s why I’m doing this, to make up for that, to try and put some justice in the world. Justice that I didn’t get, that my little sister didn’t get. And I came here and suddenly it’s all different”  Jesse found himself choking up, “Ana made me breakfast the other morning and all I could do was sit there and cry. You guys actually care about the people you work with, they’re not tools or expendable. You’re a family. And it’s everything I ever wanted. Angela talks with me like she’s lived my life before, she has wisdom I can barely comprehend, she is so sympathetic it hurts. Nobody has ever listened before, you know? And Gabriel has all but handed me adoption papers. He bought me all new clothes, got me a haircut and they’ve all been feeding me. You all...care so much. And for someone who hasn’t been cared about since he was 12….you’ll have to forgive me for intruding on your family.”

Hearing this, Jack was out of his chair and around the desk at Jesse’s side in seconds.

  
“McCr-...Jesse, you don’t have to be sorry for that,” Jack said, “I’m sorry, for not being better to you.” 

“It’s fine, really,” Jesse said, wiping the tears before they had a chance to fall down his face, “I know you can’t trust me, I wouldn’t either. I haven’t been able to trust people for a long time. Shit, I still don’t even know if I trust you guys, I feel like y’all are gonna throw me in jail the first chance you get. Well I trust Angela but that’s different. But I just want you to know that I’m serious about this. Gabriel gave me that second chance and nothing in the world is gonna hold me back from getting the justice I deserve, from getting my vengeance on Deadlock. Not even what you think of me. I’m going to go out there and do what I can to do like you said, make the world just a little bit brighter, and I’m gonna do it whether you trust me or not. Because I’ve already seen hell. I’ve seen monsters, I’ve been at the mercy of one for six years, and I’m not going to let it stop me.” 

Jack surprised him in one single instant, by offering his hand. Jesse stood, and took it, surprised at how strong the older man’s grip was as they shook hands. 

“I’m sorry, Jesse, for how stubborn I’ve been. I think all I wanted to see was the criminal, and not the victim. I can see why Angela likes you so much. You’re a very determined young man. And I think you’re going to do just fine with us. And I think, out of anyone I’ve ever interviewed, no one has come into this office with such an overwhelming sense of duty. To do right by people who have been wronged. And I’m proud of you for admitting you’re scared. You do good on this first mission, and we’re going to get along great, okay?” 

“Yessir,” Jesse said. 

Jack held the door open for him, and on the way out he added, “And Jesse, the only thing I can really think of to tell you is, stick with Gabe, alright? He’ll protect you no matter what. And no matter how scared you get, just think of exactly what you told me. Think of who you’re doing this for, and you’ll be able to do anything. Welcome to the family.” 

Jesse nodded, and upon considering Jack’s words as he exited the other man’s office, he found that what he said to Jack wasn’t all what came to mind when he pictured why he was doing this. Instead, it was Angela’s face in the back of his mind.

 


	7. City of Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI I WAS SO BUSY THIS SUMMER AND FALL WITH JOBS AND COLLEGE BUT I'M HERE NOW HAVE A NEW CHAPTER

  
  
  


A few months later and Jesse was really starting to feel that things were getting better. Angela seemed to be the same, their conversation hadn’t really taken much of a toll on her, that or she was doing a fantastic job of hiding it. She seemed to be her normal self. His training was going fantastically, both physically and educationally. Gabriel was really stressing the importance of finishing his education, seeing as Deadlock members didn’t exactly go to high school. Jesse was doing really well, there were lots of great teachers in Overwatch and he found himself liking some of them more than he thought he would. Liao was a great guy, and of course he loved every second he got to spend with Ana and Fareeha. When it came to Jack though, he was still on thin ice, but he was warming up gradually. They day Jesse had finally beat Lona, he had even been a smile out of him. And then the day finally came. 

Gabriel handed him his real, honest to god, Overwatch uniform. He could hardly believe he was actually a member of the peace organization that championed the world. He was...going to be a hero. Albeit secretly. Not a lot of people knew about Blackwatch but Jesse didn’t mind, he didn’t need the spotlight. He just wanted this chance. A chance to turn things around, bring a little justice, raise a little hell. He came out of the locker room feeling proud as a peacock in his black jumpsuit. Gabriel nodded. 

“Where do we go now?” Jesse asked. 

“Nowhere yet, we’re still waiting,” his mentor told him.

Jesse opened his mouth to ask what for, but was immediately derailed when the other locker room’s door opened revealing Angela in Overwatch’s bright blue and white. It was a slit dress over a pair of leggings. Her hair was down, the first he’d ever seen it like that. She was adjusting the tool belt around her hips so that her pliers were in front of her, comfortably resting on her left. 

“Wow,” Jesse said under his breath, but clearly it caught Gabriel’s attention. 

“You ready Ziegler?” 

“Yes! I just need help with my valkyrie harness once we get on the ship,” She said, not even noticing how utterly entranced Jesse was. When she finally looked at him, it was that same oblivious, charming smile. 

“Your Blackwatch uniform fits nice. It suits you,” She told him, “If only you had your hat.” 

He couldn’t even reply. Gabriel had to nudge him. 

“Y-Yeah! You too! I mean, you don’t need a hat- uh- well- you already have one, I mean, you look good!” 

She smiled through his bumbling and let Gabriel lead them to their dropship where Jack was already getting loaded up along with Reinhardt, Gerard, and Torbjorn. 

“There you are, shit,” Jack cursed, waving them over, “Gabriel we have a situation, they can’t go to Mumbai with us We have a hostage situation, some anti-omnic radicals have a bunch of omnics and their human supporters captive in Detroit, dangerously close to the omnium. We have to move quickly before anyone gets hurt.” 

“Blackwatch?” 

“Unfortunately. There’s suspicion of Talon interference, but with all forms of communication down, we can’t figure out for sure. We lost contact ten minutes ago.” 

“Any casualties yet?” Angela asked, taking the hologram from Jack’s hands. 

“From what we know, Helix security has a tight lockdown on the Omnium, but the shopping center where everyone is hold up has confirmed at least two security guards dead and at least twelve civilians injured. It looks like a distraction for an attack on the omnium. Detroit holds one of the more...reasonable god programs, but obviously we can’t risk another outbreak of violence. Overwatch can handle the hostage situation, but we would need to know if there’s any sort of underlying threat in the shadows before we could move in. Unfortunately I’m stretched thin as it is with Mumbai, so Blackwatch may have to just take the whole kit and caboodle.” 

“Leave it to us, if it’s just a hostage situation, we’ll clean it up no problem and make sure there’s not too much public outcry, but if it’s more, then we’ll handle it. What are we doing about the kids?” Gabriel asked, looking to Jesse and Angela.

“You’re going to have to take them with you,” Jack said, “I’d tell you to leave Angela behind but this is far too dangerous to not have a medic on hand, especially with such heavy civilian involvement, given that Moira just shipped out to Peru thirty minutes ago. And I think McCree would be perfect for threat elimination. He’s good enough to take out a gunman without any risk of hurting a civilian. 

“Agreed.” 

Jack turned to the two and looked them in the eyes. 

“Can you handle this?” He asked. 

“Yessir,” Jesse replied.

Angela nodded in agreement, “I will help anyone who needs me.” 

Jack gave each of them a pat on the shoulder before turning to his fellow commander.

“Be safe, Gabriel,” Jack said, taking his hand.

Angela noticed the affection as the two men hugged and parted ways, and she felt there was hope for them yet.

Jack started to head for the door but pivoted and called out, “McCree, come here.” 

The young man jogged to catch up with the Commander. 

“Yessir?” 

“Just...make me proud kid, you’ve been doing a lot of hard work. Put it to use and everything will be fine. And look out for Angela, she has a habit of putting everyone else before herself. Just make sure you have her back, okay?” 

“Got it Sir, I won’t let you down,” Jesse nodded. There was a call of his name and he ran back to the carrier, leaving Jack to merely watch them leave. 

As they piled onto the dropship, Jack called to him again.

“Here kid.” And in one swift movement, he threw something which just barely made it into his hands as the doors closed. Jesse, with determination, put his hat snuggly on his head. 

“There, much better,” Angela commented with a smile. 

“It’s a long flight, you best get comfortable,” Gabriel told them. 

They all rode in relatively silent conditions. Rita was cleaning her gun, Gabriel was casually making use of their basketball hoop, throwing lazily with one arm, yet still managing a few baskets. 

Angela was working on a crossword puzzle, and Jesse found himself gravitating towards her as always. He chewed the inside of his lip as he watched her methodical work.

“Something on your mind Jesse?”

“Well, you’ve been on these before,” Jesse started, “You ever get….scared?” 

She looked away from her puzzle, surprised, “Are you scared Jesse?” It wasn’t meant to be a jab, he could hear it in her voice. 

“Nah, I mean, maybe a little but...I’ve done this before. Just...not nearly on this professional a level,” He told her, “Never against people who could fight back. Save for when I met you guys.”

She folded her hands in her lap, “Well sure, of course I get scared. Even though all of my missions have been small, and they’ve made me stay inside the drop ship, I got scared for my teammates. It’s a big scary world out there Jesse. But we can’t let it get to our heads. You can do this, you’ll be great at it!” 

“Thanks Angela,” He said, “You want help with that puzzle?” 

“Sure.” 

It was then that Gabriel got up and retrieved something, bringing it over to them.    
“Angela I’m going to need you to change.” 

“Whatever for?” She asked, taking the black clothes into her hands. 

“I know Overwatch likes the theatrics of being heroes but we can’t be seen, you need to blend in for now. You’re on a Blackwatch mission.” 

“Alright,” She nodded, standing. 

Jesse watched in amazement as Angela began to strip in front of them, and Gabriel immediately stepped in and hustled her to the bathroom, muttering an argument with her as they went. He shoved her inside and shut the door, making his way back to Jesse.

“What-” 

Gabriel cut Jesse off, “She’s a doctor, she sees people naked all the time. Forgets that the rest of us don’t though. Didn’t want anyone to be uncomfortable-” 

“Who said we were uncomfortable?” Jesse asked, his eyes lingering on the bathroom door. 

“You’re blushing. You were uncomfortable,” Gabriel sighed, “Either that or you were fantasizing and we really don’t need that right now, got it?” 

“Yessir, but you didn’t have to shove Ziegler in the bathroom,” Jesse said, watching as she came stumbling out in a black uniform that matched everyone else. 

“There, Gabriel, I changed in the restroom, are you happy?” Angela huffed as her hair was sticking in all sorts of directions, “Never mind that it’s a one by one foot square.” She was still shirtless, her blue bra visible while the top half of her jumpsuit hung at her hips. 

“Sorry Angela,” Gabriel sighed. 

“Jesse? We’re almost there, can you help me with my suit?” She asked, pointing to the case where her wings were stored.    
“Yes Ma’am,” He replied. 

“In case you’re wondering,” She said to Gabriel as Jesse lifted the case and started pulling out parts, “I can’t spray paint these black.” 

“You should make a Blackwatch pair, I wouldn’t mind you on our squad,” Gabriel raised his eyebrows.” 

“I’m only here because Jack asked me,” She said, taking scissors to the jumpsuit, creating sizable holes for the base of her wings to fit through, “I wouldn’t join Blackwatch even if you threatened me. I’m here to save people’s lives Gabriel, not join a hit squad.” 

“Hit squad is a bit of a stretch,” The commander said, watching Jesse help her put the harness over her head and down onto her body. Then she zipped up her suit and Jesse found the holes, plugging her wings into the harness. 

“We’re all set back here Angela,” he said to her. 

She pressed the stretch of skin behind her ear and suddenly the wings came to life and she stretched them out, getting used to having them again. 

“All of that tech in such a tiny chip,” Gabriel shook his head, “What is the world coming to.”

“I have to control them somehow. Having a remote wasn’t really an optimal idea,” She shot back. “You need to get with the times old man.”

“You’re not putting any chips in my brain any time soon Ziegler, that much is certain.” 

“It’s not even in my brain!” She protested. 

“Whatever,” Gabriel said, “Just don’t let Moira near those. Who knows what she’d do with ‘em.” 

Angela snorted, “I don’t even want to imagine.”

 

They were at the dropsite in a matter of hours, outside of the bones of the Detroit omnium where the shopping mall stood nearby. 

“Alright, everyone, radio silence,” Gabriel said, and Angela watched as all the Blackwatch members, including Jesse, turned off their personal microphones. 

“Why?” She whispered to her friend and Jesse replied. 

“So we don’t give each other away. One sound and our positions are revealed. I know Overwatch likes the grandeur of it all but our job is to not be seen.”

“Angela you’re going to be with me, Jesse you go with Santiago,” Gabriel said.

Jesse looked at his friend, knowing this was only so Gabriel himself could protect their weakest member. Jack would throw a fit if Gabe let anything happen to her. But also it didn’t feel right not being able to be there for her himself.

The Blackwatch team exited the ship ome by one. Gabriel and Angela, Rita and Jesse, Lona and Julia, Markus and Pietro. Blackwatch had a sort of buddy system. Everyone had a partner that you didn’t let leave your sight. It was much easier for accountability and safety. Jesse was being babysitted by either Rita or Gabe until the could assign him somebody. It was a hard process, because you not only had to get along, you had to practically be soul mates to make it work. Jesse became a little peeved that Angela was in Overwatch when Gabriel had explained this to him.

They were getting ready to enter the building and he found himself checking on her at least every thirty seconds.

“Jesse, eyes forward,” Rita scolded.

He kept a tighter hold on his gun as they advanced into the building. Coming to the main atrium of the mall there were several civilians clumped together as if they’d been forced to stay put here. The lack of the enemy caught them off guard.

“On your toes,” Gabriel said, “Angela stay behind me. We can’t help them just yet we need to assess.”

“Yessir.”

She held her staff close to her chest as she surveyed the injured while Balckwatch surveyed the surroundings.

There was a loud bang and a hiss as something zoomed towards them. An explosion erupted mere meters from their faces and smoke cleared to reveal Lona protecting them with her shield.

“BARRICADE!” She shouted and in an instant Jesse snapped to Rita’s back. Julia and Markus pulled metal plates from the straps on Lona’s back. They threw them to the ground and watched as they each unfolded and grew into large barriers just as the bullets began to fly.

“It’s an ambush!” Gabriel shouted, “Julia we need a path to get under the overhang!”

“On it!” She unraveled the whip from her side and flicked her wrist, managing to grab an assailant from the second floor and bring him down.

Pietro unfolded his rifle and took to helping her by sniping. Jesse fired off a few shots himself, everything Jack said hanging in the back of his mind. He was right. Everything melted away, now it was about the mission.

“Gabriel we have to get the civilians,” Angela urged.

“Markus you’re on escort get Angela to the civilians and get them out of the building one at a time. The rest of you, cover them.”

“Yessir!” The replied as a unit.

The first few civilians were hectic. Angela had called out to all of them trying to find and help the most injured first and made a priority list. Jesse could feel every muscle in his body as he strived to protect the pair of them as they brought back the hostages one by one.

Markus was behind Angela on their way to a woman who called out that her ankle was broken, when all of a sudden from the second floor a bundle of dynamite was hurled, and with a crack of a gun that Jesse knew all too well, it exploded above them. Markus shielded Angela but Jesse could clearly see he was knocked unconscious if not dead. Angela pushed his limp form off of her and Lona rushed in with a barrier for them.

After taking out a considerable amount of men, Jesse looked back. Angela kept looking between Lona and the injured civilian. And he knew exactly what she was thinking of doing. He reloaded just in time to see her break away from her protection and open her wings to jump to her target. The bright light had drawn everyone’s attention but Angela didn’t notice. Dammit. Seeing her lift another woman into her arms, he realized she had no backup and no way of protecting herself. He moved before he knew what he was doing and jumped the barricade and sprinted past Lona and Markus straight for Angela. 

“McCree! Get back here!” Gabriel ordered with a hiss. 

But he didn’t listen. He saw a couple flankers and he ran to Angela as fast as his legs would take him.

“Doctor Ziegler get down!” He slid, taking out Angela’s legs from underneath her and making sure her and the other woman landed on top of him instead of hitting the ground. The injured woman screeched in pain but Angela managed to get roll them both off to the side allowing Jesse to sit up. He laid down cover fire to give them time to stand again. 

“Go now, I got your back!” Jesse said. 

Angela got the other woman back into her arms and sprinted until she was within Valkyrie range of Gabriel. Jesse backed up as quick as he could, firing off shots. Lona grabbed him by the collar of his shirt to pull him behind her shield and help Markus stand and get back to the group.

When they were both within the safety of the team’s position, Angela grabbed her staff and knelt down to begin to heal the woman’s broken ankle. 

“Thank you Jesse, you’re a lifesaver,” She commented, looking up at him. 

“Uh, nah, no biggie,” He replied, “She okay?” 

“I’m good,” The civilian nodded, “Thank you so much.” 

“No problem, you’re safe now,” Jesse tipped his hat to her.

“You really are as daring as they say,” Angela said as she helped the woman to her feet where one of the backup Blackwatch agents who had just arrived came to escort her back to the drop ship outside with the other civilians.

“And you are just as reckless,” Jesse replied, “Jack told me you’d go running into danger just to try and save someone else.” 

Angela’s eyes went wide. 

“Just...try and stay close okay? You can’t save anyone if you’re dead.” 

She nodded, holding her staff tightly in her hands. 

“McCree and Ziegler if either of you pull something like that again I will demote you to signing Jack and I’s paperwork do you understand me?”

“Yessir,” Jesse nodded, feverish. Angela put a calming hand on his shoulder. She made a mental reminder that she'd have to help him unlearn his crippling fear of disappointing superiors at some point.

As the backup began filing in and the mysterious assailants were either finished off or running, Jesse happened to catch something out of the corner of his eye. A wisp of white hair and a lever action rifle.

He thought of the dynamite, of the gunfire he'd recognized so well and a hand flew up to his neck immediately. He nearly dropped his gun trying to hold his mouth closed, the sickness stirring in his stomach threatening to empty his lunch on the ground. This couldn’t be happening. Not already, it was too soon.

“Jesse?” Gabriel kept his hands tense and ready on his guns, searching the room for whatever set off the younger man.

“It's not Talon it's Deadlock,” Jesse choked, "I saw her."

“Where Jesse?” Rita asked.

“That way.” He pointed his gun down one side of the mall and Gabriel started to bark out orders.

“You and Angela stay here with the others and finish cleanup, we’ll take this one.”

Jesse didn’t say it but he thanked god Gabriel made him stay.

 

When Angela was done with her rounds she found Jesse where he was keeping watch by the large fountain. There were small explosions and gunfire in the distance that kept both of them on edge. His leg was bouncing, his hands sweaty and trying to keep busy by spinning his gun. 

"They'll be fine, Jesse." 

"You don't know who I saw." 

"What would Deadlock even be doing this far east?" She asked, "Please I want to ease your mind, maybe it was a coincidence. I don't want to see you hurting." 

"S'fine Angela. They pull shit like this sometimes, I just didn't think I'd be tangling with it so soon. My first mission no less." 

"Well Gabriel has clearly taken the precaution of dealing with it so you don't have to. He knows you're probably not ready for that yet." 

"He doesn't know what she's capable of." He looked down the hallway again, the fifth time in the past minute. He rubbed his neck and stood up.

"Who?" She asked

Jesse’s radio crackled to life and he pressed his ear piece before standing.

“I have to go help now Angela stay here with the others alright?”

“No Jesse you can’t-“

“They cleared a path for me already I’ll be fine but Gabe wants you to stay its worse down there than it was before you’ll get hurt. Tell whatever agents we can spare to meet us in the west end alright?”

He sprinted away leaving Angela alone by the fountain as Blackwatch agents continued to swarm. 

As Jesse continued on to where Gabriel and the others were held up, he could hear the tell tale sound of another sniper. He could just barely see Lona’s blue shield in the next atrium but his eyes shifted to the deactivated escalator. 

He made his way up to the third floor and with a quick flash bang and a few shots, the sniper was dead on the ground.

Jesse hadn’t been expecting backup to be so close by. Two were already down, and as he tried to reload to take on the newcomer, the butt of the assailant’s gun was slammed into his forehead,. Jesse went down, hitting his head again as he fell, cutting open his he was out.

The gunman stood over Jesse’s unconscious body, pulling out his handgun. He aimed clearly for the back of the young agent’s head. All at once someone else was there. Suddenly, she slammed into him with all of her body weight, knocking him off balance but not to the ground. She stood over Jesse, her staff clenched tightly in her hands. Her clothes were disheveled and there was still a little blood on her face from the previous fight.

“Back off little girl, or lose your life,” The gunman growled at her. 

She remained silent, attentive. He could tell she was weighing her options, but he wasn’t going to give her any more time. In a quick moment, as he raised his gun to her, she panicked. There was that same look in his eye that she’d seen all those years ago. The rage, the killing instinct. And in one single thought, one decision, she took a breath and reached for her sidearm.

There was only one shot.

 

“Jesse? Jesse can you hear me?”

McCree’s eyes filled with light as someone roused him off the ground. An Angel? Was he dead? But as he blinked and the image of Angela hovering over him came into view, he realized he was still in the land of the living. Not that she was any less of an angel. If he were coherent he'd crack a joke about heaven on earth but he could barely feel his face.

“There you are, thank goodness. You have a concussion for sure, I’m going to take you back to the drop ship. Can you stand for me? Or I can carry you, your choice,” Angela said, bandaging his forehead.

“What happened?” He asked as she aided him in sitting up.

“You took a nasty hit to the head. The lump is quite sizable,” she said, lifting him to his feet.

“No I mean- after he hit me, where’d he go?” Jesse asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Angela told him, pulling his arm around her shoulder and hooking an arm around his waist. 

“Angela-” 

“I said don’t worry about it,” She pressed, helping him to walk towards the escalator, “We need to get back to Gabriel. I think the fighting is over, but I’m not sure.” 

There were shots from below and Angela could hear Gabriel’s yelling. 

“Come on Jesse,” She urged. 

There was a shot close to her head and Jesse was hollering for her to look out. She turned around to see that the man had backup. She weighed her options, dropping Jesse in favor of her gun or get in between them. He tried to shoot again but the gun jammed and that’s when Angela made her decision. With all her strength she lifted Jesse into her arms and backed up. She could see Gabriel and the others below them. 

“Hold on to me!” She told him. 

“Jesus Angela what are we-- ?!” 

“Trust me!” 

She took a running start and cleared the railing, jumping off the balcony. Her suit strained to allow them to descend slowly but it was too fast with two people. 

“Gabriel!” She shouted to below. The commander looked up in time to have both young agents come crashing down upon him. 

“What the hell?!” 

“Shooter! Balcony!” She urged them as the pile of bodies struggled to sort themselves out and stand.

“Where’d the woman go?!” Gabriel hollered as they all were untangling themselves. Jesse barely caught a glimpse of a closing elevator where a thick leg on an omnic was visible and a kneeling woman. Her bright red lipstick smile mocking Jesse as the doors closed and the elevator rose.

“Dammit! Santiago take the roof and Angela’s shooter,” Gabriel ordered after he too saw the closing elevator.

“On it!” Rita said, taking three others and running back upstairs.

“Where did the two of you come from?!!” Gabriel said, taking her by the shoulders, “I thought I told you to wait behind- Jesus Christ what on earth were you thinking?!” 

“Jesse was in trouble,” She told him, “He almost got shot-” 

“YOU almost got shot!” Gabriel yelled.

“He went by himself you could have at least told him to bring another agent when you asked him for backup,” She argued.

“I didn’t ask him for-“ Gabriel looked to Jesse with fire in his eyes.

“You two aren’t leaving my side do you understand me? We’re gonna get this done and both of you are gonna be in deep shit when we get home.”

“Yessir,” Jesse nodded, not meeting his eyes. 

“Gabri-“

“Angela do NOT,”  The commander replied.

Unfortunately they didn’t have the luxury of continuing the mission and pretending everything was fine because as soon as the realm backup arrived it was pretty much over.

They took civilians to the nearest Overwatch base before starting the flight back to the Swiss base.

“We didn’t even get to investigate,” Lona muttered.

“That’s what Watchpoint DC is for,” Rita sighed, shedding her armor, “The core agents are spread too thin right now we just have to push whatever we can’t make time for down onto the lower activity bases until the world decides to stop shitting itself.”

Jesse huffed, rubbing his neck as he listened to them.

Angela emerged from the bathroom having changed. Her look was soft and sympathetic, but also somehow different.

“He never called you Jesse, why did you lie?” She asked.

“It wasn’t...I didn’t want to but Angela you gotta understand you really could have been hurt I-“

And just like that her demeanor changed.

“I don’t like having this discussion but I suppose I must with you like all other men in Overwatch but I swear Jesse you cannot presume to know what I can and cannot do or if something is too dangerous. My life is dangerous my job is dangerous. I’m young but I’ve still been at this for far longer than you and I will not be coddled or protected by Jack or Gabriel or you. Kindly remember that it was me who ended up saving you today.”

The last bit ended with a bit of a bite to it and all Jesse could offer was a meek apology. He got up and relinquished the couch space to her as he went to go sit in the very back of the plane. She blinked, suddenly dealing with this large empty space. It was soon taken up by the other women on board.

“Gabe is really mad,” Rita told Angela as they both watched Jesse remove his hat and bring his knees to his chest.

“I bet. God our first mission and we’re already going to be cited for insubordination.” 

“Not you, just Jesse,” Lona said, “Boss man knew you were just making sure he didn’t get himself killed. You’re off the hook other than the stern lecture you’re gonna get.”

“And Jesse?” She asked.

“Between the disobedience, losing our one potential suspect, and almost getting both of you killed I’d be surprised if Jack will let him stay.” 

Angela’s heart sunk. She had regretted her words immediately. 

The resident Blackwatch tech wizard, Tiffany, came down from the cockpit to show something to Rita.

“Gabe wanted to know what you thought of this,” she said, presenting a hologram, “Possibly ID of the suspect you were chasing before the incident with McCree.”

Rita and Angela both leaned in to look at the picture of two men and a woman. The elder man with his arm slung around this pristine woman with white hair and red eyes and a rifle in her lap. Angela’s eyes stopped don the younger, teenage boy in between them. In an instant she knew it was Jesse.


End file.
